Congress Unanimously Bans U.N. Internet Regulation

On Tuesday, TheBlaze reported that the U.S. was leading the charge to reject Internet regulation that could be proposed at the U.N. International Telecommunications Union's world conference. Affirming this stance, the U.S. House of Representatives, like the Senate, unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday to ban U.N. Internet control.

PhysOrg reported Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) saying before the 397-0 vote that the representatives should "send a strong bipartisan, bicameral signal about America's commitment to an unregulated Internet." Congress has been applauded for their ability to come together on the issue.

"I think that we are all very, very proud that there is not only bipartisan, but bicameral support underlying this resolution, and there is complete support across the Executive Branch of our government," Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said, according to The Hill. "In other words, the United States of America is totally unified on this issue of an open structure, a multi-stakeholder approach that has guided the Internet over the last two decades."

Although the ITU has said Internet freedom and/or measures that would lead to censorship would not be facilitated at the conference, as Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) pointed out, according to PsyOrg, there are "several hostile countries" that would use such a regulation to stifle freedom of expression on the web.

"We need to send a strong message to the world that the Internet has thrived under a decentralized, bottom-up multi-stakeholder governance model," Blackburn said.

(H/T: SlashGear)