The real challenge for Internet freedom? US hypocrisy. And there's no app for that.

Coverage Type: 

[Commentary] Secretary Clinton's speech on Internet freedom was full of good news. The US has a more grown-up view of the complexities of Internet freedom and its importance. The bad news was in what Clinton didn't address: the role US foreign policy and US companies play in Internet oppression. Then, there is the thorny issue of our growing dependance on companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google as the providers of digital infrastructure that makes cyber-activism possible. Clinton was right to acknowledge that the Internet is “the public space of the 21stcentury” – but today this space feels and looks more like a shopping mall than a community playground. The striking impression one gets from watching the recent events in Egypt and Tunisia is that these revolts happened not because of Facebook, Twitter, and Google – but in spite of them. While their services were widely used by activists on the ground, the parent companies have been extremely quiet. And for a good reason: They all have global business interests and eye expansion abroad. Being seen as the digital equivalents of The Voice of America is bound to create additional liabilities for them in important markets like Russia or China.


The real challenge for Internet freedom? US hypocrisy. And there's no app for that.