Protecting Internet Freedom

• July 13, 2016

Internet freedom has been part of U.S. foreign policy since 2010, when the Internet had just emerged as a powerful political tool, fueling activism in Iran, connecting dissident communications in the Arab Spring, and challenging rulers in Russia, China, Cuba, and other authoritarian regimes.

Challenges to Internet Freedom

The principle of extending freedom of expression through the Internet remains strong, but since the rise of terrorist propaganda and recruitment on the Web, Internet freedom has become an issue of greater complexity.

Change in Command

The Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) anti-censorship office has inherited the issue of Internet freedom, following the State Department’s series of missteps in its grant-making process to private companies working on censorship circumvention software.

The BBG has a greater degree of technical expertise and has experience in anti-censorship policy and in fighting the jamming of its programs into hostile foreign territory.

New Office, New Director

This week, the BBG announced the appointment of Dr. Nnake Nweke as the new director of the Office of Internet Freedom to head the interagency effort to “overcome attempts to interfere with, monitor, censor and prevent people overseas from using the Internet.” Nweke, founder of the Science and Technology Policy Center and a former official at the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology, has more than 15 years of experience in information and communications technology, cybersecurity, and Internet policy.

For the Internet, Freedom Is Paramount

As director, Nweke will face a set of complex challenges, including how to deal with terrorist communications using encrypted technology. However, Internet freedom is paramount and should continue to be a pillar of U.S. foreign policy.

Helle Dale | Contributor

Helle C. Dale is the Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow in public diplomacy. Her work focuses on the U.S. government’s institutions and programs for strategic outreach to the public of foreign countries, as well as more traditional diplomacy. Read her research.

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