The Senate Foreign Relations Committee endorsed a bill sponsored by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Wednesday.
Co-sponsored by 35 senators, the bill aims to prevent foreign regulation of the Internet. The endorsement is a step forward for the bill, according to a news release from McCaskill’s office. It now awaits approval of the full Senate.
The goal of the senators is to make clear that the U.S. opposes allowing any international body or foreign country to have jurisdiction over Internet management or regulation, according to the release.
“Today’s vote puts us one step closer to further protecting Missouri jobs and business opportunities,” McCaskill said in the release. “I’ll continue to fight to ensure our bipartisan bill gets a vote on the Senate floor and that we continue to work across the aisle to encourage business growth and development, and that we’re not giving oppressive regimes more tools to silence democratic dissent by their people.”
Countries including Russia, China and Iran have proposed turning Internet regulation over to the United Nations, which would dramatically expand the power of foreign countries to limit or censor speech within their borders, according to the release.
The bill is bipartisan, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stressed the importance of this fact in a letter written to the senators, according to the release.
“The Chamber believes it is important to demonstrate the strong bipartisan consensus within the U.S. government and among U.S. Stakeholders to preserve and advance the multistakeholder process responsible for today’s thriving Internet,” said R. Bruce Josten, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president of government affairs, in the letter.
The letter also discussed the Chamber’s fear of expanding the International Telecommunications Union’s influence over the Internet. It would set a dangerous precedent and heighten expectations for unnecessary top-down international regulation of the Internet, Josten said in the letter.
US Telecom, the Software and Information Industry Association and Google are also in support of the bill.
“By passing this resolution, Congress will unequivocally show its support for a free and open Internet and highlight the Internet’s critical role in growing the global economy and the success of the multi-stakeholder model that lies at the heart of its governance,” Google Vice President Vint Cerf said in a letter of support to the committee.
