What is the .io domain name and why is it problematic? Link to heading
Preferred by tech companies, the .io domain name does not actually refer to the input-output word pair (I/O) we all learned about in primary school. I still remember that IT teacher with the mustache and white lab-coat trying to calm us down when the first Windows 95 PCs arrived… we suddenly got slapped in the face by the ever-accelerating pace of technology and subsequently forgot all our (very limited) MS-DOS skills. The last Linux machines were left in the old számtechterem1, jinxing the future towards a world more inhumane, ruled by for-profit tech companies.
This controversial .io is in fact a country code top-level domain assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory. Yeah… colonies. There are seven atolls of hundreds of little islands south of India, around halfway between Zanzibar (Tanzania) and Sumatra (Indonesia), called the Chagos Islands. The local population, the Chagossians were forcefully expelled from the archipelago between 1968 and 1973 by the UK government, who wanted to make space for building a military base there joint with the United States. Today, UK and US military personnal are the only inhabitants, operating the base. Tourists, journalists, or Chagossians are not allowed to enter.
Recently, Mauritius is trying to obtain control over the islands in a decolonization campaign through legal proceedings against the UK in various international courts. After some nominal Mauritian success, a flag raising ceremony was held but it was immediatly met with protest by Chagos Islanders living in the UK.
Chagossian refugees now mostly live in Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the UK. They are still trying to go home, but a ban on their return remains in place. And, of course, they do not receive any funds from the profits made from the popular .io domain name.2
Chagos flag used by some activists.