"American high-tech firms have produced the technology and know-how that has led to a modern-day information revolution," said Smith. "However, instead of working to allow everyone to benefit from these advancements, these same high-tech firms are colluding with dictators to suppress the spread of information and punish pro-democracy advocates,"
The "Global Online Freedom Act of 2007," said Smith's office in a release, will strengthen the federal government's new strategy to promote online freedom by prohibiting U.S. Internet companies from cooperating with repressive regimes that restrict information about human rights and democracy on the Internet and use personally identifiable information to track down and punish democracy activists. The bill would make it a crime for Internet companies to turn over personal information to governments who use that information to suppress dissent.
"American companies should not be working hand-in-glove with dictators," said Smith. "By blocking access to information and providing secret police with the technology to monitor dissidents, American IT companies are knowingly-and willingly enabling the oppression of millions of people."
Smith first introduced his legislation just days after he convened a landmark seven-hour hearing at which representatives from major tech Internet firms Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and Cisco Systems testified that they have complied with censorship laws and/or provided personally identifiable information about Internet users to repressive regimes in countries where they do business. The bill was approved by the House subcommittee that had jurisdiction of human rights during the 109th Congress, but the session ended before the bill could be brought before the full House for a vote.
Authoritarian regimes including China, Belarus, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Laos, North Korea, Tunisia and Vietnam are all known to block, restrict and monitor the free flow of information on the Internet, said Smith. In some of the more egregious cases, democracy activists have been tracked down and incarcerated for their online communications. According to Smith, American IT companies Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and Cisco Systems have assisted repressive regimes who censor information, monitor Internet usage and punish political dissidents.
