Clinton urges free use of internet as tensions in Iran persist

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is renewing her push for the free and open use of the Internet as protesters from Egypt to Iran have used it to demand political freedoms.

In excerpts of a speech she will give in Washington, the chief U.S. diplomat said the question of what people do online and what principles they follow is one that "becomes more urgent every day."

The United States supports the "freedoms of expression, assembly, and association online" - what she calls the "freedom to connect" - and urges other nations to embrace those freedoms.

Washington is also committed to protecting civil liberties and human rights in cyberspace and is "determined to track and stop terrorism and criminal activity online and offline," she continued.

"We are convinced that an open Internet fosters long-term peace, progress and prosperity," Clinton said in her speech on "Internet rights and wrongs."

But her prepared remarks warned that governments that block, censor or punish Internet activity can "cut off opportunities for peace and progress and discourage innovation and entrepreneurship."

"History has shown us that repression often sows the seeds for revolution down the road," she said. "Those who clamp down on Internet freedom may be able to hold back the full impact of their people's yearnings for a while, but not forever."

She said leaders worldwide can open up to the Internet and perhaps see its content increase the demand for political rights or they can block it and risk losing all the economic and social benefits that come with it.

"The United States will continue to promote an Internet where people's rights are protected and that is open to innovation, is interoperable all over the world, secure enough to hold people's trust and reliable enough to support their work," Clinton added.

U.S. diplomats and development experts now work daily to monitor and respond to threats to Internet freedom, the Associated Press reported.