Donald Trump Signals Opposition To Handing Internet Control To The United Nations
Donald Trump and frenemy Ted Cruz finally agree on something: it is a bad idea for the Obama administration to surrender Internet oversight to the United Nations.
Texas Senator Cruz, Trump’s former rival for the Republican presidential nomination, is leading in effort to block the handover that is scheduled to happen on October 1 by including language in a must-pass temporary federal spending bill that has a September 30 deadline. Capitol Hill lawmakers are currently in negotiations over the spending measure.
Trump and Cruz, along with many others in and out of government, share serious concerns about the risk of online censorship given the totalitarian regimes which figure prominently among United Nations member states.
“Publicly proposed in March 2014, the transfer of oversight of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, is expected to go forward unless the U.S. Congress votes to block the handover,” Reuters explained.
In March 2014, the Obama administration announced the plan to relinquish control of Internet management to global governance. As the Inquisitr previously detailed, from the inception of the Internet, domain name acquisition and other open-access policies have been under the guidance of America.
In a statement released tonight on behalf of GOP presidential nominee Trump, National Policy Director Miller detailed the candidate’s opposition to a United Nations takeover of the Internet and to ensure the continuation of online freedom of speech.
“Donald J. Trump is committed to preserving Internet freedom for the American people and citizens all over the world. The U.S. should not turn control of the Internet over to the United Nations and the international community. President Obama intends to do so on his own authority – just 10 days from now, on October 1st, unless Congress acts quickly to stop him. The Republicans in Congress are admirably leading a fight to save the Internet this week, and need all the help the American people can give them to be successful. Hillary Clinton’s Democrats are refusing to protect the American people by not protecting the Internet.”
Through the First Amendment, the U.S. stands for free expression around the world, Miller continued.
“The U.S. created, developed and expanded the Internet across the globe. U.S. oversight has kept the Internet free and open without government censorship — a fundamental American value rooted in our Constitution’s Free Speech clause. Internet freedom is now at risk with the President’s intent to cede control to international interests, including countries like China and Russia, which have a long track record of trying to impose online censorship.”
Unless Congress acts now, Internet freedom will be permanently lost, Miller ominously added.
While not yet endorsing his fellow Republican for the presidency after a bitter primary struggle even at this late date, Cruz tweeted out his appreciation for Trump’s support of maintaining internet freedom.
Sen. John Thune, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, told The Hill that he thinks that it is likely the Internet handover could be delayed through stopgap language but only until December when the temporary funding bill expires.
Appreciate @realDonaldTrump’s support of our efforts to stop Obama’s Internet handover & keep the #Internet free https://t.co/rkHnu7kT4X
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 21, 2016
Insofar as potential censorship on the web is concerned, “Technical experts have said those claims are baseless, and that a delay will backfire by undermining U.S. credibility in future international negotiations over internet standards and security,” Reuters added, which perhaps is another manifestation in the U.S. election of a contest between globalists vs. nationalists.
Trump backs Cruz-led attempt to halt internet name transition: https://t.co/GQ9cbnRGku pic.twitter.com/yR689oXAD1
— The Hill (@thehill) September 21, 2016
“Hillary Clinton, in her tech policy platform, says she supports the transition as a ‘critical step towards safeguarding the Internet’s openness for future generations,'” Politico noted about the plan to give over control of the web to an international consortium.
Setting aside politics, do you think that it makes sense for international powers through the United Nations to exert primary influence over the management of the Internet instead of the U.S.?
[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]
