Clinton says harmful Government Internet censorship

Countries that continue to censor Internet addressing economic and social costs in the long term, with oppression bringing civil unrest and not security, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

Although some countries, including China, now are growing economically while censoring the Internet, that growth is not sustainable, Clinton said during a speech on Internet freedom at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Clinton called on Governments in China, Iran, Viet Nam, Burma and elsewhere to end censorship on the Internet while pointing at recent attempts at censorship in Egypt and Tunisia which failed.

Countries will not be able to keep the divisions which separate economic activities on the Internet from social activities, religious or political, Clinton said. Some countries have tried to achieve the economic benefits of the Internet while blocking other tasks, he said.

"The walls that divide the Internet, blocking the policy content, or banning broad categories of expression or allow some forms of peaceful assembly, but not in others, or intimidate people to express their ideas are much easier to erect than to maintain," he said. "There is an economic and social Internet Internet and a politician of the Internet. There is just the Internet ".

Attempts to censor the Internet while reaping the economic benefits will cost "moral, political and economic" that are not sustainable in the long term, he added. "There are opportunity costs to try to be open for business but closed to free expression, the costs of the education system of a nation, its political stability, social mobility and its economic potential," said Clinton. "When countries restrict the freedom of the Internet, have put limits on their economic future."

Speech Clinton Tuesday is his second major address on Internet freedom. In January 2010, announced several new initiatives of the State Department for the fight against Internet censorship.

The Chinese Government has criticized his first speech and denied that it restricted the freedom of the Internet.

Clinton China repeatedly mentioned during the keynote address on Tuesday. Some observers have noted that China's economy is growing while the country's Internet censorship, he said.

But Internet restrictions will have "long-term costs that threaten a day to become a noose that restrains the growth and development," he said.

Countries to censor the Internet should look at recent events in Egypt and Tunisia, Clinton added. In Tunisia, the Internet has provided economic connections in Europe, while censorship was "on a par with China and Iran," he said.

"The effort to divide the Internet economy by Internet all-else it might not be supported," he said. "Young people--especially--found ways to use technology connections to organize and Share grievances, which as we know, have contributed to a movement that led to revolutionary change of fuel".

Businesses should be wary of operating in countries with heavy Internet censorship schemes, said Clinton.

"If you invest in countries with aggressive censorship and surveillance policies, you may close your website without notice, from government servers hacked, your designs are stolen, or your staff threatened with arrest or expelled for failure to comply with an order politically motivated," he said. "Risks to your bottom line and its integrity, at some point, will exceed the potential rewards, especially if there are market opportunities elsewhere."

Grant Gross covers technology and telecommunications policy in the Government of the United States for the IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. E-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com of Grant.