New Media News

US Congress threatens Internet freedom

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:30

Global civic organisation Avaaz reports the US Congress is debating a law that would give it the power to censor the world's Internet - creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz.

Says Luiz Morago of Avaaz: “Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users' activities. And, because so much of the Internet's hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us.

“The vote could happen any day now, but we can help stop this - champions in Congress want to preserve free speech and tell us that an international outcry would strengthen their hand. Let’s urgently raise our voices from every corner of the world and build an unprecedented global petition calling on US decision makers to reject the bill and stop Internet censorship.”
Morago points out that for years the US government has condemned countries like China and Iran for their clampdown on Internet use. “But now, the impact of America's new censorship laws could be far worse - effectively blocking sites to every Internet user across the globe.

“Last year, a similar Internet censorship bill was killed before reaching the US Senate floor, but it's now back in a different form. Copyright laws already exist and are enforced by courts. But this new law goes much further - granting the government and big corporations enormous powers to force service providers and search engines to block websites based just on allegations of violations - without a trial or being found guilty of any crime."
To sign the global petition go to http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?vl

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