International Freedom of Expression Exchange: The global network for free expression
5 November 2002
CONGRESS TABLES INTERNET FREEDOM BILL
Internet free-expression campaigners may have cause for hope: the United States Congress is considering a bill calling for the creation of a special office to combat Internet censorship in authoritarian regimes around the world, report International Journalists' Network (IJNet) and the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER).
However, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warns the legislation should not replace or lessen US support for independent journalists working under such regimes.
Introduced in the House of Representatives by Christopher Cox and Tom Lantos last month, the Global Internet Freedom Act would allocate up to US$100 million over two years towards establishing and operating a federal Office of Global Internet Freedom, IJNet says. The bill has also been introduced in the Senate.
The Office of Global Internet Freedom would "develop and implement a comprehensive global strategy to combat state-sponsored and state-directed Internet jamming, and persecution of those who use the Internet," reads the proposed Act.
In particular, the office would be charged with countering the censorship efforts of authoritarian regimes around the world, including Burma, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam.
The office would be set up within the International Broadcasting Bureau, which administers the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, and recruit programmers and Internet advocates in helping citizens bypass state controls on the Internet.
CPJ says the bill, if passed, would be helpful in protecting free expression in many parts of the world, but stresses that it should not supplant existing efforts to support independent journalists working under authoritarian regimes.
"Unless they feel safe [journalists] won't publish critical information on the Web," the group says.
According to EurasiaNet, the bill apparently does not tackle other forms of censorship in countries targeted for Internet anti-censorship initiatives.
In recent months, new software, including Peekabooty and Dynaweb, has been developed to counteract Internet censorship in China, reports FEER. The programs rely on peer-to-peer technology similar to what Napster used for sharing music files.
However, several Internet advocates, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, worry that some of the new software available may not be effective enough in protecting the identity of users from Chinese authorities.
"Before throwing good money after bad, there needs to be a careful examination of the [software] designs," says James Mulvenon, co-author of a recent Rand Corporation study on the Internet in China.
The proposed Global Internet Freedom Act can be viewed here:
http://policy.house.gov/assets/ACF876.pdf
Visit these links:
- CPJ Report on China "The Great Firewall":
www.cpj.org
- Human Rights Watch:
www.hrw.org
- Global Internet Liberty Campaign:
www.gilc.org
- Rand Corporation Study "You've Got Dissent":
www.rand.org
- Peekabooty:
www.peek-a-booty.org
- IJNet:
www.ijnet.org
- FEER:
www.feer.com
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