Press freedom organisation Index on Censorship has consulted a number of experts over US secretary of state Hilary Clinton’s recent speech on internet freedom.
They include Chinese internet activist Wen Yunchao and former Guardian head of digital and Tow Center professor Emily Bell, who says:
There are many contradictions in how the US government has tackled the issue of the internet; from a rather ambivalent approach to net neutrality, through the involvement in industry of providing cyber security to overseas repressive regimes, to its extremely hostile reaction to the Wikileaks disclosure of diplomatic cables …
The irony of the timing of the speech was not lost on the Twitterverse. As Clinton spoke, lawyers from the department of justice were defending their pursuit of information on Wikileaks operatives, which involved ordering platforms such as Twitter to hand over user data on individuals it linked to the organisation.