Rep. Smith proposes a not quite Global Online Freedom Act
The idea is certainly noble. Yahoo and Google have both been chastised for giving the names and addresses of Chinese dissidents to the Chinese Government. This bill would supposedly end such practices by a U.S. based company. This Act also has strong support from Reporters without Borders.
The Global Online Freedom Act (GOFA) has the best of intentions. The Act states that U. S. based internet companies should not only promote the free flow of information and ideas, even in countries that insist on filters, but should also refuse to implement any censorship that another country demands.
Minimal Corporate Standards for Online Freedom are also outlined. These standards prohibit U. S. business from using any equipment in a Country that denies internet freedom, that would provide personally identifiable information.
For the internet companies based in the U.S. that don’t follow the rules, they will now be subject to private lawsuits that can include large damage awards.
This Bill also calls for the creation of a new section in the Department of State called the Office of Global Internet Freedom (OGIF). All U. S. internet companies will be required to provide this new office will all information concerning any filtering of information that the company performs, in any country and why.
The President is expected to broker treaties with foreign countries that censor what information flow to create a worldwide open internet. The European Union is working on their own version of GOFA but China will present a challenge.
However, as with all such legislation there are loop holes. One exception is that services such as Yahoo, Google, and others can hand over information for “legitimate foreign law enforcement purposes.” Everyone can see the need in that right? Except that the definition of that term is left up to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to decide on a case by case basis. DOJ has a hard time defining torture so don’t expect enlightenment from them.
Then there is the other loophole. You would think that since a Representative in Congress is proposing this Bill that especially those in the U.S. government would have to honor the Bill. Not so. The President can ask for whatever information he deems “is in the national interest”.
The U. S. has been guilty of censoring the information on the internet, as well as, requesting questionable information, such as one million random web addresses and searches conducted within a 1 week period, from Google. With a history like this, it is hard to imagine the President brokering and GOFA deals with a straight face.
While the Global Online Freedom Act is admirable in its goals, it would be easier to enforce if the U.S. government weren’t setting a bad example itself. A few modifications and this bill could truly keep the free flow of information going worldwide.
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