Dreams for a connected global internet are increasingly threatened by regulations being brought in by governments around the world, experts have warned. 

Plans to restrict content are fragmenting the world wide web, a system created with the promise of connecting people by offering universal access to information.

China has walled off some western services for years and experts are now warning over plans elsewhere in the world to filter content, leading to nationalised internets.

That includes the UK's plans to hold executives personally liable for posts on social media that are harmful or illegal, revealed in a government white paper on Monday.

They say this would put the country at the 'far end' of internet censorship and further fuel the 'splinternet' - a term circulated for a decade or more that has gained popularity in recent months.