January 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — Coupling a salute to Internet freedom with a carefully worded caution to countries like China and Iran, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that countries that engaged in cyberattacks should face consequences and international condemnation.
“In an interconnected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all,” she said in a speech in Washington. “By reinforcing that message, we can create norms of behavior among states and encourage respect for the global networked commons.”
Mrs. Clinton’s comments came in a speech in which she announced a new $15 million effort to help more young people, women and citizens groups in other countries communicate on the Web.
“Given the magnitude of the challenges we’re facing, we need people around the world to pool their knowledge and creativity to help rebuild the global economy, protect our environment, defeat violent extremism and build a future in which every human being can realize their God-given potential,” she said, according to the advance text of a speech at the Newseum in Washington.
Her remarks came at a time when Internet controls have drawn increasing public attention. Limits on Internet searches led to a dispute made public this month between Google and China, and sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which played a critical role in helping protesters in Iran spread news and images of violent crackdowns on antigovernment demonstrations, have been blocked by the authorities in Tehran.
Foreign companies and millions of Chinese Google users have been watching the matter with keen interest.
Google announced on Jan. 12 that it was “no longer willing to continue censoring” search results for its Chinese users, pointing to breaches of Gmail accounts held by human rights activists in China. Tens of other companies had also been targets of hacking, the company found. Google has taken a cautious approach to the dispute, avoiding placing direct blame on the government in Beijing, and the Chinese government has sought to describe the situation as strictly business.
None of the proposals Mrs. Clinton mentioned focused specifically on China or Iran, and the financing is relatively modest.
Still, Mrs. Clinton made an unmistakable allusion to Google and China when she said, “Countries or individuals that engage in cyberattacks should face consequences and international condemnation.
She did not suggest what the consequences should be, though.
Five United States senators, led by Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, have urged Mrs. Clinton to move quickly to support organizations that have tried to make it easier for people in countries like China and Iran to sidestep government restrictions on Internet use.
The senators, in a letter written before the recent Google dispute, urged Mrs. Clinton to quickly spend $45 million earmarked over the last two years for Internet freedom.
Her announcement, while calling for spending just a third that amount, appeared to be otherwise in line with their urgings.
Mrs. Clinton said the new programs would help expand Internet access to women and other groups, put in place programs to train and support civil society groups and nongovernmental organizations in new media technologies; and support pilot projects to increase access, particularly among young people, in the Middle East and North Africa.
Mrs. Clinton paid tribute to the power of the Internet both for opening new forums for the exchange of ideas and for fostering social and economic development. “In this context,” she said, “the Internet can serve as a great equalizer. By providing people with access to knowledge and potential markets, networks can create opportunity where none exists.”
Brett Solomon, executive director of the group AccessNow.org, which promotes digital openness, praised Mrs. Clinton’s speech.
“This is a big couple of weeks for Internet freedom,” he said, mentioning both Google’s stand and Mrs. Clinton’s proposal. “Digital activists across the world may now increasingly see their demands for democracy and justice pierce the firewall.”
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