Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Bono Mack Wants Web Freedom Hearing

House Energy and Commerce Committee member Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., urged the panel's leadership Wednesday to hold a hearing on the role of the Internet and communications technologies in giving a voice to those silenced by repressive governments. Calling attention to recent events in Iran and China, where mobile phones and applications like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube delivered uncensored, citizen-fueled reports from the streets, Bono Mack said it is time that Congress examines the threat that Web censorship poses to free expression. "We cannot stand idly by while the voices of the oppressed are silenced," Bono Mack said in a press release and in a letter to Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton.

Web sites developed in the United States provide opportunities for people whose words would otherwise never be heard and can foster respect for human rights and freedom across the world, she said. Following last month's disputed election in Iran, a "Twitter Revolution" allowed citizens there to broadcast firsthand accounts and on-the-scene footage of protests and violence in Tehran. At the same time, the government was doing everything in its power to control messages and images leaving Iran. Meanwhile, China has continued to use its "Great Firewall" to block content on a regular basis and researchers estimate that 30,000 or more Internet police monitor online traffic, Web sites and blogs for political and other offensive content.

In the 110th Congress, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin chaired a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee that examined U.S. companies' business dealings in Internet restrictive countries. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others were on the hot seat. In 2006, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chaired a similar high-profile hearing of the House subcommittee that oversees global human rights. Smith has introduced legislation on multiple occasions that would prevent U.S. tech firms from working with foreign governments that seek to conduct Internet surveillance to find, capture, convict and often torture citizens for engaging in democracy promotion and human rights advocacy online.