Remarks on Global Internet Freedom

Media Note: Secretary of State Establishes New Global Internet Freedom Task Force

(9:45 a.m. EST)

MR. ERELI: Welcome, everybody. We're pleased to have you here this morning to join two of our senior officials for a briefing on a new initiative on global internet freedom.

We'll begin with Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Josette Sheeran Shiner, who will give you some opening remarks on the initiative, followed by our Under Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor *Dobriansky and then open it up to your questions. So let's begin with Under Secretary Sheeran Shiner. Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Thank you. I'm pleased to join you here today with Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky to announce State's Global Internet Freedom Task Force. Since its launch a little over a decade ago, the internet has proven to be the greatest purveyor of news and information in history. From a small band of university researchers sharing documents to people -- over a billion people connecting in real-time around the globe, the internet has proven to be a force multiplier for freedom and a censor's nightmare, as efforts by repressive regimes have failed to fully restrict or block growth and access to the internet. Nevertheless, there are severe challenges to this openness. It's a top priority for the State Department and the U.S. Government to do all we can to ensure maximum access to information over the internet and to ensure minimum success by censors to information or silence legitimate debate in this global town hall.

The U.S. Government and the State Department have been on the front of the battle to ensure global access to information through the internet. In particular, we've led efforts at the UN's World Summit on the Information Society through the leadership of Ambassador David Gross, who joins us here today, to rebuff efforts by governments to get global approval for efforts to repress dissent through the internet. As the Department has focused more energy on this issue and the challenge, the Secretary has concluded that a task force would be a useful tool. It will draw upon State's expertise across many departments, including international communications policy, human rights, democracy, business advocacy, corporate responsibility and, as appropriate, relevant countries and regions.

The task force will consider the foreign policy aspects of internet freedom, including the use of technology to restrict access to political content and the impact of such censorship on U.S. companies, the use of technology to track and repress dissidents, efforts to modify internet governance structures in order to restrict the free flow of information. The task force will look to ensure that our concerns are being raised at all levels with governments and international organizations.

We will also work with our companies and NGOs to help address their concerns in meeting this challenge. We seek to work with the EU and other governments also on our joint challenges on these fronts and have noted that the EU Minister of Information is now raising some of these concerns today in China.

The task force will, over the coming weeks and months, make recommendations to the Secretary on policy and diplomatic initiatives to maximize access to the internet and help minimize government efforts to block information. We will feed into a robust interagency process led by the NSC and NEC, including our partners at Commerce, Justice, USTR and other agencies.

Six decades ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated that, "Everyone has the right to information, to freedom of opinion and expression. And this includes the right to freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers." These rights were reaffirmed most recently at the UN’s World Summit on the Information Society just this fall. We will work with all stakeholders to determine the best diplomatic and technological strategies to affirm these rights and practice.

I want to just introduce our interagency team we have here that will be participating in the task force. In addition to Under Secretary Dobriansky, we have Assistant Secretary for the Economic Bureau, Tony Wayne. We have the U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy David Gross, Ambassador Gross. We have the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Jeffrey Krilla. We have the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organizations, Mark Lagon. We have the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Information Programs, Judy Siegel, and we have the Deputy Director of the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff, Matthew Waxman. And now, Secretary Dobriansky will make some remarks and then we'll take your questions. Thanks.

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: Thank you. Free information empowers people and literally transforms nations. The internet especially can be a liberating force. Topics once politically taboo can become freely discussed and people can communicate anonymously. We must ensure it does not become a tool of repression.

As part of this task force, we will be reaching out to the human rights and democracy community, members of Congress, and other relevant stakeholders to explore ways to address the growing concern over repressive governments co-opting the internet to serve their purposes. And as part of our ongoing corporate social responsibility efforts, we will continue to reach out to the business sector. We are open to innovative ways that we, the United States Government, and the private sector can harness the influence we each bring to the table to promote our shared objectives.

Many technology companies share a strong commitment to be socially proactive and want to work to help those who lack the freedom we often take for granted. If we band together, we can make significant progress on this issue. I would also like to add -- Under Secretary Sheeran Shiner introduced our Deputy Assistant Secretary from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, Labor, Jeffrey Krilla. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, Labor, Barry Lowenkron, would have joined us today; he is en route to China where, among other issues, he will be discussing this issue that we are raising and discussing with you today.

Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Any questions?

QUESTION: Just recently, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said according to the Chinese law, U.S. e-mail and internet content providers should help China stop harmful content. I wonder if the U.S. has --

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Should help what? I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Help China to stop harmful content. And I wonder if the U.S. has talked with the Chinese Government about this and expressed your level of concern? And at the same time, Representative Chris Smith is drafting a bill that would force internet companies, including Google and Yahoo, to keep up vital computer service out of China and other nations that the State Department deems repressive to information freedom. Would the Administration support such a bill?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Well, we haven't seen a final copy of the proposed legislation, but we will be studying that. I will say that we have very serious concerns about the protection of privacy and data throughout the internet globally and, in particular, some of the recent cases raised in China. And we will continue to press our concerns with the Government of China. We will continue to work with our companies and we applaud their efforts to take voluntary steps that would help ensure privacy of data and protection of data on the internet. And so we think this is a serious area of concern and one that we plan to engage in robustly.

QUESTION: Does the U.S. Government have the power to prevent U.S. companies from complying with laws in other countries? For example, can you say to Google or Yahoo or anybody else, we don't like how you're operating in China, even though they're the laws of China. What tools do you have available?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Well, as you know, the United States Government does not make investment decisions for companies. There are a whole global recognized areas of illegal activity that take place throughout the globe, including sometimes on the internet whether it's stealing credit card information or preying upon children or other areas that are globally recognized as criminal activity. We certainly, however, applaud the efforts by our companies to look at technological means and other voluntary means to ensure the greatest access to information possible which certainly is in the core founding principles of these companies and to ensure the least ability to use the internet and technology to try to repress dissent.

And so we obviously feel that the core principles of human rights recognize the ability of individuals to express their opinion. We don't feel that expressing opinion is a criminal activity. And so we plan to continue to engage in this topic in a robust way and we again applaud efforts. We know that, you know, the internet in many ways is like a flood, it's very hard to control. And the fact that billions of people or certainly over a billion people that did not have access to information before now have access to all kinds of information that they didn't have before. This is a good thing. It is our policy goal to ensure that the maximum amount of information can be accessed through the internet and with the minimum amount of control on legitimate debate over the issues of our day. And so we're seeing this throughout the globe. We think this is a welcome opportunity.

We applaud the efforts of our companies to get technology into countries that can afford it; to make sure that there's broadband access in countries in Africa and elsewhere so that we get an informed global citizenry. As a general principle, we think this is one of the greatest forces for global peace and stability is access to the kind of information that makes an informed global citizenry and we’ll stand behind that principle in every way possible that we can.

QUESTION: One quick follow-up. Would it be within your power to classify technology used by Google, Yahoo, or any other company as sensitive technology that can't be exported without permission?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Well, there's certainly a lot of ideas out there on how to address the challenges that we face. And a part of the task force, what the Secretary wanted to ensure is that we're looking at this in a multidisciplinary fashion. So we'll pull together all the offices and all the expertise that we have at State. In addition, we have some really great expertise at Commerce and elsewhere on all of these issues and we'll be looking at the range of ideas that people have, we'll be engaging the stakeholders. We feel that this is a top priority, to look at the new policy challenges here. So we're not ready today to make any declarations on particular kinds of solutions or particular kinds of challenges. We know that we've had some effect and been able to successfully see the internet now, virtually, globally rooted around the world. But we have current challenges that are pretty challenging and those are the kinds of things that we'll be discussing in the task force.

Hi.

QUESTION: Two questions. First, should American companies keep their internet service out of Mainland China, before you make any sort of recommendations, I mean, what's your sort of initial view on that, as a solution which a few companies have agreed to? And my follow-up is you say you applaud American companies, but what's your view on Yahoo and its previous decisions? We know of two incidents where Chinese dissidents have been jailed as a result of Yahoo giving information to the Chinese Government. Was that the correct call? Did Yahoo have any other means? Should they have reached out the State Department perhaps earlier on to deal with that problem?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: We plan to continue to engage our companies across the board at the kind of challenges that they face. We know throughout the world, we've seen for many, many decades, this is not due -- that the tools of repression, the tools of censorship are many and varied. Certainly in the technological age, we see new manifestations of that. This is a challenge not only for our companies but for our citizens abroad, for American Government, as we seek to affirm the principles of human rights and access to information, human dignity, human freedom. And all I can say is that we will have a robust dialogue with our companies, with the Congress, with the stakeholders, with our NGOs who have a range of ideas, many that seem interesting on how to address these challenges.

So, certainly, as I mentioned earlier, we've spent a lot of good works in Africa and elsewhere to make sure that technology is universally available or to help ensure that, including efforts to get access to laptops throughout the world where people can't afford them. All these efforts are important in breaking down the barriers to access to information. So, our general principle is ensuring maximum access to information, minimum ability to control that, and while recognizing that -- you know, there are legitimate law enforcement areas that all of us are familiar here at the United States -- whether, again, it's stealing credit card information or other means that can be used and making sure we have a robust dialogue with all the stakeholders that have a piece of this debate.

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: May I just add to that?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Yes.

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: I would want to underscore, as Under Secretary Sheeran Shiner pointed out, that this task force will bring together a forum which will enable all the stakeholders to look at what are the most effective options forward; bringing companies together with human rights organizations, with democracy-related groups, with us in government, with interested parties in Congress and others. And I think that one can expect that by having that vibrant discussion, by having that focus on a range of ways forward, I think that we will be, I think, breaking important ground in addressing these vital issues and preserving freedom of information.

QUESTION: Excuse me. While the main intention and the main focus of the international community is focused on Iran's nuclear activities, it seems that the fate of Iranian webloggers has been forgotten. Many of these people are being persecuted. And on the other hand, the BBC Persian website, which has been proven to be the most popular website in Iran, has been blocked by the government. The Minister of Culture has said that the future decisions on this website depends on -- very much on BBC as a whole. It starts in the world of Islam.

Do you consider such demands acceptable or are there going to be any decisions or stances on such activities in Iran with the webloggers being persecuted?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: I will guarantee you we have not forgotten Iran and the importance of access to information in Iran. We feel that access to the global debate, access to a full range of information is vital for Iranian citizens, for every citizen on earth in every country. Again, we feel this is one of the greatest ways to break down barriers of blocks and misunderstanding and potential strife and the Iranian people, we know, are anxious to engage the world in a discussion about the future of the world and the positive role that they, the people of Iran, would want to play.

So, we will keep this at the top of our list and I will tell you that we -- this is one of the areas where we have the main concern, is making sure that, again, people have, as recognized in the Universal Human Rights Declaration -- access to information is a basic human right. This is not a crime. Access to basic information about what's happening in the world, the basic right to formulate an opinion, and being an informed citizen in the world, this is a human right that we recognize in every country, including in Iran.

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: These have been areas that we have discussed and we can expect to be part of the discussion in this forum.

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Any other questions?

QUESTION: Can I ask about the task daily -- daily activity of the task force? What are they do -- they set up the office and get together or they do, like, have conference or how many people will be in task force?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Very good, practical question. We -- I want to stress, first of all, that these are not new issues for the State Department and we have many, many experts in our different departments here that have been involved in global negotiations, in bilateral discussions, in setting up the core principles, in interacting with our NGOs, in raising these concerns and working with our business community and Congress on them.

And so, we don't plan or feel we need to duplicate those. What I think we are trying to recognize here is that these issues are very cross-disciplinary and we need to sit down and bring all our experts together across those disciplines in order to address some of the challenges we face. Our first meeting will be next week. We plan to meet as often as needed, but we have a range of issues and challenges here and so, we will determine how often that will be as we set the agenda for discussion of what is best handled in this cross-disciplinary way.

And as we do that, we can certainly update all of you on the efforts we plan to make. We'll be reaching out to stakeholders and try to bring together, as Undersecretary Dobriansky said, a more cross-cutting look at some of the challenges we face with our stakeholders and again, there is a very robust interagency piece of this with leadership from the NSC and NEC on this that will feed into State's particular role and expertise on this.

And again, you know, Commerce -- we have really excellent expertise on these issues there and other departments. So, I think the main thing that we're communicating today is the fact that we will be looking with our group of experts and pulling us together to really look at where these issues intersect and how best to address them in a policy and diplomatic way.

QUESTION: Will this group be the one that is handling -- is the -- sort of the point group for the Global Internet Forum that was created out of the UN Information Society summit? Will you guys be handling that?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Ambassador Gross is our lead negotiator on these issues and I don't know if there's anything else you want to say. And again, we're not trying to duplicate the activities that are happening across the full spectrum. Ambassador Gross works closely with Department of Commerce and Jack Marberger in the White House on these issues. Those efforts will continue. But again, I think you will be seeing a more cross-cutting look at these issues at how in these various fora we can ensure that we're carrying a common message and pushing forward.

Sorry, did you have a question?

QUESTION: Just another practical question about time frame, if you have. Do you have any idea when to reach to a sort of conclusion or you vote?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Well, when every citizen on earth has access to the full information that they want, I think our work will be done, and so whenever that time frame is reached. We may have our work cut out for us for at least a few years ahead, but I hope not too many.

But in all seriousness, this task force, I think, will remain as an operating place where we can pull people together until the foreseeable future.

QUESTION: Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Any other questions.

QUESTION: You mentioned China a couple of times, but do you have any other countries you have concerns with?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: We do, and if -- certainly in our Human Rights Reports and elsewhere we've identified the blocks in access to information in those. Now is not the time, I think, to go through them country by country, but as you know, we identify the regimes that we feel are repressive, including on the information front, and those are of special concern to us where there are more organized and sophisticated efforts to block information. And so I think that will be, you know, certainly a high priority for us to address those.

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: And just to add on that, I think the aspect of this is to enable especially human rights groups, other groups, to come forward and to talk about cases worldwide. There was the earlier question about Iran. As we indicated, we do expect these cases broadly to be addressed. China has been one that has been featured in the press, in the media, of late. There are other areas.

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Last question?

QUESTION: Is access a bigger problem than privacy? I mean, are there many countries in which the authorities follow the internet traffic, e-mail traffic, without court warrants?

UNDER SECRETARY SHINER: Well, certainly censorship is a very old practice and we've seen it manifest throughout history on many different levels, and that's not new to the internet and it's a challenge that we face with the internet and elsewhere. The privacy piece certainly has new dimensions as we look at technology and the ability of technology to connect people, and so I would say that, you know, some of the unique policy challenges that we face are certainly in that area and that will be a major focus of our discussions.

MR. CASEY: Thanks, everyone. Appreciate you coming today.

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