The headline on CNN Money.com reads “Tech giants push for Web free speech”. The article talks about Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Vodafone working with human rights and press freedom groups to draw up an Internet code of conduct to protect free speech and privacy of Web users.
That part of the article is fine – and speaks of a noble effort. The parties aim to produce a code holding companies accountable if they cooperate with governments to suppress free speech or violate human rights. The intent is to counter such trends as the increased jailing of Internet journalists, monitoring of legitimate online activity and censorship.
Care needs to be taken that we recognize that with free speech comes responsibility. David Butt, a lawyer who works on child exploitation issues says:
There are important lessons to be learned from the print media experience on both sides of the freedom of expression debate as it blossoms anew in an internet context. Governments, it seems, must learn all over again to keep their digital paws off political expression. Private interests, it seems, must learn anew that certain very limited kinds of expression (hate speech, and child abuse images for example) are socially destructive and must be prevented and condemned. And once again, the economic interests of powerful actors must not be allowed to muddy the waters, particularly if the result obscures victimization.
The 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit, June 11-13, includes a session examining Canadian perspectives on dealing with various forms of Illegal Content on the Internet.
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