PRESS FREEDOM | Informing citizens, ensuring accountability
15 September 2008
Private Sector Should Resist Internet Censorship, Official Says
State’s Dobriansky says incentives can help block authoritarian pressure
Washington — With government efforts to restrict free Internet access on the rise around the world, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky urged the private sector to resist pressure to limit access to the Web and instead join the United States and others in efforts to “open the doors to unfettered information.”
The right incentives from democratic governments can enable industry to “embrace the moral responsibility of resisting pressure” to restrict Web access in repressive countries, she said.
“With the partnership of fellow democracies, industry and nongovernmental organizations, efforts to regulate and restrict free speech will ultimately prove an unsuccessful attempt to hold back the rising tide of democratic change.”
Dobriansky spoke in Washington on September 10 at a workshop for journalists, representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and U.S. officials called “Media vs. New Censorship: The Authoritarian Assault on Information.” The workshop was hosted by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Panelists included the directors of Freedom House, the Global Internet Freedom Consortium and the China Internet Project, and the editor in chief of Washington Prism, a Persian-language online journal of culture, politics and public affairs.
Dobriansky said the United States has committed substantial resources to expand the Internet. Through this commitment and dramatic reductions in the cost of communication technology, “millions of new users can be empowered by Internet access.” The Bush administration is working with the private sector to develop a set of voluntary principles to encourage the information technology industry to protect the free flow of information.
In addition, “we strive to support journalists and press freedom organizations under threat through various grants and funding for initiatives such as providing secure Web sites for journalists under pressure from restrictive regimes,” she said.
GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM TASK FORCE
The under secretary said some of this work is being done by the State Department’s Global Internet Freedom Task Force, established by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2006. In cooperation with NGOs and the private sector, the group monitors Internet freedom across the world and seeks to expand online access. (See “State Summary of Global Internet Freedom Task Force.”)
She said the task force “provides a channel for responding to threats to Internet freedom, where nongovernmental organizations or Internet service providers can flag for us an abuse, upon which we can then act.”
The United States raises concerns over Internet freedom both bilaterally and multilaterally, she said. In 2008, both the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development issued statements urging greater Web access to enhance democracy and economic development.
In 2007, she added, the Bamako Ministerial Consensus of the Community of Democracies also “expressed its commitment to the central importance of Internet freedom to democracy and development in three separate statements.”
Some governments that are restricting free Web access claim they are protecting their citizens from “dangerous or morally questionable ideas,” and others “do not even seek a pretense,” she said. The world also has witnessed alleged government attacks upon the Internet servers of other governments. (See “Cyberwarfare in Georgia conflict disturbingly simple.”)
Dobriansky said that in all of these cases, “the common denominator is deliberate ‘denial of the marketplace of ideas.’”
To view or download video footage of the “Media vs. New Censorship: The Authoritarian Assault on Information” workshop, visit the Broadcasting Board of Governors Web site.
