US to announce new Internet freedom policy

Hillary Clinton's plan to make it difficult for autocracies to repress dissent

The Obama administration is planning to announce a new policy on global Internet freedom.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will reveal the plan that is designed to help people overcome barriers in the Web world while making it difficult for autocracies to use technology to suppress dissent.

Under Clinton, the US State Department has pushed Internet freedom as a basic human right. Releasing excerpts of her speech, the State Department said Clinton will speak about US commitments to a free, open and secure Internet.

One excerpt says that though there is a debate about whether the Internet is a force for liberation or repression, the events in Iran and Egypt have shown that debate is largely beside the point.

It says, "What matters is what people who go online do there, and what principles should guide us as we come together in cyberspace. That question becomes more urgent every day."

"Our allegiance to the rule of law does not dissipate in cyberspace. Neither does our commitment to protecting civil liberties and human rights."

The US position on Internet freedom has strained relations with China and other countries. Clinton has named China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt among countries that censored the Internet or harassed bloggers. And she says that in Egypt and Iran, opposition protests have been fueled partly by new Internet technologies.

The State Department plans to finance programs like circumvention services, which allow users to evade Internet firewalls.

However, there are contradictions in the Department's agenda as it is apprehensive of Websites such as WikiLeaks.


(2011-2-16/CBR)