Berman Working On Net Freedom Bill
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., said Thursday that he is working on his own legislation aimed at bolstering global Internet freedom.
Berman said he is still working out the details and plans to work with Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., on the legislation. Smith has introduced his own bill, known as the Global Online Freedom Act, which would require the State Department to set up an Office of Global Internet Freedom and compile an annual list of Internet-restricting countries. The measure also would require U.S. information technology and communications firms to store personally identifiable information outside of Internet-restricting countries and report when countries ask them to censor, block or restrict access to information.
In an interview, Berman said he is still open to using parts of Smith's GOFA bill or even moving the measure itself. But he added that he's trying to figure out "what's the most effective thing we can do to help people in countries where the government is" seeking to restrict Internet freedom. "If GOFA can do it or some variation, that's what we're looking at," he said.
Berman's panel held a hearing Wednesday on the issue of Internet freedom, which looked in particular at Google's recent spat with China on the issue. Google announced in January that it would stop censoring search results for users in China after the Internet firm discovered it had been the victim of a cyber attack originating from China.
At the hearing, Berman noted in his prepared remarks that the "Internet is a useful tool to promote freedom and trade, but in some places it also serves as a means of censorship. It's a boon for U.S. business, but also a source of great vulnerability with respect to U.S. national security. Reconciling these conflicting policy challenges is a key mission for the [Obama] administration and, I believe, for this committee."
In her testimony, Google Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Nicole Wong called for "prioritizing the issue as a matter of U.S. foreign policy, including in various dialogues that the U.S. government pursues with regimes that are heavy Internet restrictors, using trade tools where possible and perhaps also making it part of the criteria for receiving development aid." Google has endorsed Smith's GOFA bill.
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