GOP platform adopts Internet freedom plank

Republicans vowed to fight against efforts that would give international or intergovernmental organizations more control over the Internet in their party platform, approved on August 28.

"We will resist any effort to shift control away from the successful multi-stakeholder approach of Internet governance and toward governance by international or other intergovernmental organizations," the platform reads. The GOP platform makes clear that Republicans would reject any proposal that gives the United Nations "unprecedented control" over the Internet, stating that "international regulatory control over the open and free Internet would have disastrous consequences for the United States and the world." The Republicans also plan to combat domestic regulations that would threaten new innovation and protect the survival of outdated technologies. "The Internet offers a communications system uniquely free from government intervention. We will remove regulatory barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation and competition, while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new and disruptive technologies such as mobile delivery of voice video data as they become crucial components of the Internet ecosystem," the platform says. It also commits to protecting people's privacy online and personal data.