Secure Global Internet Freedom - Clinton to Make New Pledge

Clinton to Make New Pledge to Secure Global Internet Freedom
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 - VOA

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is using the recent Internet-driven uprisings in the Middle East to renew the Obama administration's push for free and unfettered access to the Internet across the globe.

In a major speech scheduled to be delivered Tuesday in Washington, Clinton says the question of what principles should guide use of the Internet “becomes more urgent every day.”

In excerpts of the speech released in advance by the U.S. State Department, Clinton warns governments that restrict activity on the Internet, or use it to conduct surveillance on their citizens, that they risk cutting off “opportunities for peace and progress.”

She will also warn nations who suppress freedom of the Internet that they will only temporarily “hold back the full impact of their people's yearnings.”

Since coming to office in 2009, the Obama administration has witnessed popular uprisings fueled by use of so-called “social networking” Internet sites such as Facebook and Twitter that led to the ouster of autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, as well the demonstrations in Iran protesting the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Clinton addressed the issue of Internet freedom in a speech last January, shortly after U.S.-based Internet giant Google reported a series of cyberattacks on some e-mail accounts it hosted in China, including those used by Chinese human-rights activists.


Clinton to Make New Pledge to Secure Global Internet Freedom
Article from VOA