The splinternet idea is simple: instead of the single, global, open internet that early network pioneers intended, we actually now have multiple unconnected internets.
It’s a good idea to assume that the splinternet is here to stay, and the splintering will continue.
The biggest problem is that there are a couple billion people — at least — who do not have access to anything resembling the global internet. And that’s a violation of their rights (specifically Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
One other problem is that when knowledge is blocked, interaction is blocked and business is blocked. It makes the world a smaller place for everybody.
Filter bubbles, walled gardens, authoritarian censorship and other factors that push people into internet cul-de-sacs place undesirable limits on the flow of information, to the detriment of all.