Oh goody! Let’s give the federal government more power over the internet, given their excellent track record of restraint from invading privacy, smart management, and efficient use of money forcefully taken from other people. What could possibly go wrong?
Senator Joe Lieberman, co-author of a bill that would give President Obama a ‘kill switch’ to shut down parts of the Internet, attempted to reassure CNN viewers yesterday that concerns about the government regulating free speech on the web were overblown, but he only stoked more alarm by citing China, a country that censors all online dissent against the state, as the model to which American should compare itself.
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley, Lieberman characterized concerns that his 197-page Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PDF) legislation represents an attempt to hand Obama “absolute power” over the Internet as “total misinformation,” adding that people were “intentionally peddling misinformation”.
Lieberman again invoked “cybersecurity” as the motivation behind the bill and tried to assuage the worries of critics. “So I say to my friends on the Internet, relax. Take a look at the bill. And this is something that we need to protect our country,” said the Senator.
However, Lieberman’s choice of comparison in justifying the necessity of the bill will only serve to heighten concerns that the government is going after free speech.
“Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too,” said Lieberman.
The Senator’s reference to China is a telling revelation of what the cybersecurity agenda is really all about. China’s vice-like grip over its Internet systems has very little to do with “war” and everything to do with silencing all dissent against the state.
http://www.infowars.com/lieberman-china-can-shut-down-the-internet-why-cant-we/
Thank you for this post. The references to China are quite telling.
Our government claims they want the power to shut down the internet in an “emergency”. Can anyone think of an emergency that would require the internet be shut down? I would think just the opposite would be true. In an emergency, every available form of communication may be needed.
I heard there were two countries that currently had the power to shut down the internet, China and Iran. Our government wants that power as well. What does that say about the current administration??
I have a feeling that the government would shut down the internet with or without this legislation. If a “national emergency” is declared the government essentially writes itself any power necessary to protect itself and supposedly the people also. The government rarely follows the written law and is quick to expand the meaning of any legislation if it can expand its power over the people. With or without this legislation, I don’t think the internet is out of the hands of government. Nothing is.