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US: Clinton to Press for Internet Freedom

Date: Sunday, 24-January-2010

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Speech Recognizes Internet as Integral to Development and Stability
For Immediate Release
Human Rights Watch
January 21, 2010

Washington, DC, January 21 -- Secretary of StateHillary Clinton?s speech on internet freedomtoday, in which she said the US will devote the"diplomatic, economic, and technologicalresources necessary" to press for internetfreedom, could have broad implications for humanrights online, Human Rights Watch said.

"Secretary Clinton has elevated internet freedomto a key US priority by confronting governmentsthat censor online speech and supportingcompanies that stand up for human rights," saidArvind Ganesan, business and human rightsdirector for Human Rights Watch. "The challengenow will be to put these goals into practice byincorporating internet freedom into diplomacy,trade policy, and meaningful pressure on companies to act responsibly."

In her speech today, Clinton recognized that anopen internet is not just a matter of humanrights, but integral to economic development andpolitical stability, Human Rights Watch said. Shecriticized online censorship by allies and majortrade partners, such as Saudi Arabia and China,and condemned governments, such as Egypt, forarresting bloggers. She also called on theChinese government to investigate and publiclyexplain cyberattacks on Google that weredisclosed last week. She articulated theadministration's efforts to mobilize diplomacy,technology, responsible companies, and civilsociety to press for internet freedom.

"Censorship should not be in any way accepted byany company from anywhere," Clinton said in herspeech. "And in America, American companies needto make a principled stand." She also said thatthe "private sector has a shared responsibilityto help safeguard free expression. And when theirbusiness dealings threaten to undermine thisfreedom, they need to consider what's right, notsimply the prospect of quick profits."

She also highlighted the Global NetworkInitiative (GNI), an effort by Microsoft, Google,Yahoo, human rights organizations, academics, andinvestors that obliges companies to protectfreedom of expression and privacy online.

Human Rights Watch said the Obama Administrationcan take several steps to make this efforteffective. US diplomats should regularly presstheir counterparts to eliminate online censorship.

The administration should also ensure that allgovernment agencies work to combat censorship.The Commerce Department or the US TradeRepresentative (USTR) should call for an openinternet in the course of commercial diplomacyand trade negotiations, for example. And futureUS trade agreements should have provisions toprotect freedom of expression online, comparable to labor protections.

The US should also consider examining US exportcontrol laws to determine whether certaintechnologies need to be better regulated toensure that governments do not use them to censortheir critics, Human Rights Watch said. Oneopportunity to examine export controls will comeunder the Victims of Iranian Censorship Act,which requires the US government to issue reportsto determine whether non-Iranian companies mayhave provided surveillance or censorshiptechnologies to the Iranian government.

Finally, the US should go beyond a "principledstand" and actually require companies todemonstrate that they have policies andprocedures in place to protect human rightsonline as part of any government cooperation orsupport for their efforts, Human Rights Watch said.

"This is an important opportunity to push backagainst governments who want to censor andconduct surveillance on individuals around theworld," Ganesan said. "We hope this opportunityto promote internet freedom will not be squandered."

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on business, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/business

For more information, please contact:
In Washington, DC, Arvind Ganesan (English): +1-202-255-8305 (mobile)