PRESS FREEDOM | Informing citizens, ensuring accountability
14 July 2008
The Global Internet Freedom Task Force
The Global Internet Freedom Task Force
Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky said in December 2006, "An Internet that is accessible and can be freely used can expose corruption, encourage transparency, and foster participation in the political process. It can also advance education, health, and economic development. The Internet is, in short, a crucial means of empowerment."
Dobriansky made the statement in an update of the Global Internet Freedom Task Force, a reporting mechanism within the State Department established by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the previous February. She described the department's three-pronged strategy to pursue online freedoms by:
• Monitoring Internet freedom, reporting the findings in the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, and detailing the means and mechanisms by which governments attempt to restrict online activity.
• Responding to Internet repression with a greater push for freedom on the world stage and in multilateral organizations. The State Department took a step in this direction in January 2007 by hosting a conference on combating Internet censorship around the globe. Over 120 representatives of corporations, socially responsible investment firms, NGOs, foreign embassies, and congressional offices participated.
• Expanding access to the Internet with greater technical and financial support for increasing availability of sophisticated international communication technologies in the developing world.
The United States supports many assistance programs to promote expanded Internet access and the availability of information and communication technologies in developing countries. Since 2004, the U.S. government has invested more than $250 million in building information technology infrastructure in the developing world.
From the December 2007 edition of eJournal USA.
