Global Internet Freedom Receives Double Boost

Currently, closed countries such as Iran, Burma and China are able to crack down on dissidents by filtering, monitoring and stopping online communication. The technology currently exists to enable vast amounts of these populations access to unregulated information, both within their country and to the outside world. However, to date, the technology has been stopped from implementation by foreign governments that fear its consequences.

In the House of Representatives, Congressmen Chris Smith and David Wu will be announcing a new bipartisan bill taking steps to breaking down the firewalls of closed countries. The Press Conference will be at 11:30 in Rayburn House Office Building.

Likewise, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy will be concluding with a resolution and motion calling on all member organizations to follow through with their respective governments in specific efforts to promote global internet freedom.

ICC’s Regional Manager, Logan Maurer, stated, “Internet freedom would mean a tectonic shift for countries like Iran and China where the government can crack down on religious freedom without warning. At its full capacity, these programs would allow the common citizen to scale the firewall that keeps them imprisoned. India and Pakistan are examples of open electronic communication where stories of persecution are quickly made known throughout the world. Now we can work toward making this a reality for the rest of the world.”