Is Snowden killing internet freedom? This seems like an odd suggestion; how can Snowden be doing anything but benefiting the cause of internet freedom as a result of telling everyone how the NSA and GCHQ are using the Internet to undermines freedom? The Diplomat however makes the case that he could strongly influence the balance in the international governance of the Internet. You may remember that at the end of last year at the World Conference of International Telecommunications the Russians made a bid to bring Internet over nance more under the control of the state. That effort was blocked by states like the Us and UK who are now showing that they too ant to have a lot of control over the Internet. With the hypocrisy of these states shown up they may be less likely to be ale to stop such efforts in the future. The diplomat writes "Whatever one thinks of Mr. Snowden’s actions or motives, one of his most lasting legacies in ousting these programs is likely to be severely setting back the cause of Internet freedom in the international community. Although the U.S. and the U.K. are likely to still advocate for the same causes— probably by trying to draw stark distinctions between their actions versus those of countries like Russia, Iran, and China—these pleas will almost certainly be dismissed outright by other countries, who will note—quite rightly—that they reek of hypocrisy. As a result, states and inter-governmental organizations are likely to gain even more control over what has long been thought of as a stateless entity. Of course, the counterargument to this is that this will constitute little actual change. After all, some will point out, despite their advocacy in international forums, the truth is that the U.S. government was hardly allowing the private sector regulate the Internet unimpeded. And actions, speak larger than words, so to say. There is undoubtedly a certain amount of truth to this. However, it also misses a large point—namely, that the Internet is still in its infancy and thus most susceptible to norms that later become self-enforcing. Whatever U.S. intelligence agencies are doing covertly today, by advocating for Internet freedom in international forums, the U.S. is trying to universalize a normative principle—and therefore expectation—that the regulation of the Internet should be outside the purview of national governments. If established, over time reality would almost certainly begin to more closely approach the ideal." thediplomat/the-editor/2013/07/13/has-snowden-killed-internet-freedom/ Previous discussions idebate.org/discussions/foreign-policy-and-international-aid/will-there-be-remaking-internet-governance idebate.org/discussions/debatabase-discussions/science/us-says-no-itu-treaty-changes idebate.org/blog-post/edward-snowden-killing-internet-freedom
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 05:51:47 +0000
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