President Joe Biden will sign an internet declaration on Thursday pledging to keep the internet open, free, and global with a focus on tackling some controversial topics, such as misinformation, and pushing for net neutrality principles.
The Declaration for the Future of the Internet will be endorsed by 55 countries around the world and focused on outlining broad principles that will keep the internet united and based on democratic values in opposition to efforts to splinter and control the internet by the likes of Russia and China.
The global declaration, which is the first document of its kind, is primarily aimed at ensuring the internet remains an instrument for open communication and culture rather than an instrument of state power, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
However, it also outlines the need to tackle disinformation and misinformation, which typically involves censorship of online content. This censorship has received criticism from conservatives, who say they are unfairly targeted by such efforts.
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The declaration says the countries who sign it aim to “foster greater exposure to diverse cultural and multilingual content, information, and news online. Exposure to diverse content online should contribute to pluralistic public discourse, foster greater social and digital inclusion within society, bolster resilience to disinformation and misinformation, and increase participation in democratic processes.”
Ninety-five percent of people identified misinformation as a problem online, although few are concerned that they might be responsible for spreading it, according to a poll from last year.
The definitions of disinformation and misinformation were not outlined in the declaration, and examples of social and digital inclusion were not provided.
It is also aimed at ensuring the internet is structured around net neutrality, the principle that internet service providers should treat all data on the internet the same and not discriminate or charge differently based on where it’s coming from or to whom it’s going.
There is broad bipartisan support in the United States for the basic net neutrality protections of prohibiting providers from blocking legal content and services, throttling internet speeds, and charging for prioritization for certain websites.
However, Democrats and Republicans disagree over the need for classifying ISPs such as AT&T and Comcast as Title II public utilities, subject to control by federal agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission.
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Democrats say the Title II regulations are needed in order to provide basic oversight of ISPs and to ensure affordability and access to the internet, while Republicans across the board are staunchly opposed to the Title II regulations — in part because they could allow the federal government to regulate or control broadband internet prices if it wants to.
