The US Senate today strongly indicated how unwilling it is to allow for United Nations (UN) control of the Internet. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted as one on a resolution in opposition to the idea.
If this excercise sounds familiar, it should be. In early August the House, the lower chamber of the US Congress, voted and passed a resolution that, to quote the National Journal, “aimed at preventing any efforts to hand the United Nations more power to oversee the Internet.”
According to The Hill, the timing of the full vote in the Senate isn’t yet set, but its sponsor Senator Marco Rubio, hopes that it passes with unanimous support.
To that end. Mr. Rubio took to the pages of Politico two days ago, tying a free Internet to the advancement of other freedoms:
We need to protect fundamental Internet freedoms in the hope that greater connectivity will help bring greater prosperity to people around the world while helping the oppressed achieve what the Arab Spring achieved for the people in the Middle East and North Africa.
This issue is one that should find an easy path to passage and the President’s signature.
Why might it be a rough deal if the United Nations ran the Internet? There have been repeated and strident calls for international blasphemy laws in the halls of the UN. Combine that with control of the Internet and your freedom of expression online just went kaput.
Happily, the United States appears set to shout a resounding ‘no’ at both propositions.
Top Image Credit: Andrew Malone
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