‘Global controls will have to be imposed and a world governing body will be created to enforce them. Crises precipitate change.’
Okay, you got me, that’s Deltron 3030, but this freedom and social control based story does remind me of the government-busting liberty loving space-rapper himself, Deltron Zero (and Automator).
According to Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe human rights head, the UN should take action on the state of the internet, and more specifically, the freedoms currently entitled to internet users.
Hammarberg has taken the law into his own two hands, addressing both the issue of human right to free use of the internet and also the issue of policing content found online in a landmark statement;
“These kinds of clampdown which we have seen in China must be prevented. We would like to see a discussion about international regulation which would filter out porn or incitement to war and hatred,” he said.
“The time has come to begin to find the right way to regulate it with the protection of freedom of expression. Some governments have restrictions and others are letting it become like the Wild West.”
Hammarberg believes that the United Nations is the best equipped and most experienced body to handle these kinds of issues, due to its global outlook on issues.
“When I discuss freedom of expression with governments I notice there’s a problem here. We need to have a serious discussion about this. We need to protect the diversity of media. The tendencies in some countries are very restrictive.
“There should be a special commission appointed to work on this appointed by the UN because the problem is so global nowadays.
“There’s a need for an international dimension. Most of the sites are run by private companies but the regulations are directed towards governments. It’s complicated.”
Notable members of the UN who control citizen access to the internet include China, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Egypt.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Man amongst Men, Imperator of the Internet, The Martyr Who Required No Pay, He Who Walks Amongst The Hypertext, Guardian of… yeah, you get it, sorry, has spoken out in support of these statements, outlining that humans everywhere must have unrestricted right to use his creation, and laws must be made to keep the peace on the internet.
Those in agreement with Tim the Mighty include Vodafone’s CEO, Vittorio Colao, and France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy. Facebook and Google have also put their word in against such controls, saying the internet must be ‘free’ of laws which could slow the march of innovation.