The historic unrest in Egypt has exposed the raw nerve endings of several issues related to U.S. national security and civil liberties, among them whether Internet access is a fundamental right, not a privilege, and whether shutting down access to it, as Egypt did this week, is an assault on free speech in the name of national security. The obvious question: Could it happen here?
From a reporter’s standpoint, what unfolded in Egypt “should prompt journalists around the world to take a closer look at their government’s attitude toward controlling the Internet,” Robert Niles wrote on ORJ.org today (2/4/11). He noted that federal legislation “would allow the government to shut down parts of the Internet in a ‘national emergency.’ ”
That proposed legislation from the last Congress (and set to be teed up in the new Congress) is shadowed by the spectre of a so-called “Internet kill switch” that some believe would give the U.S. government the authority to do what the Mubarak government did: Cut the Internet off at the knees. (UPDATE: The bill was reintroduced in mid-February).
The bill would not do that, insists one of its sponsors, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Her explanation as reported NPR.org:
“The president could only restrict a particular part of a critical infrastructure if no other action could protect that system or asset,” Collins says, emphasizing that the legislation does not authorize “killing” the Internet, as some critics have charged.
Others are not as certain, as Wired.com notes.
“About two dozen groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy & Technology, were skeptical enough to file an open letter opposing the idea. They are concerned that the measure, if it became law, might be used to censor the internet.” “It is imperative that cyber-security legislation not erode our rights,” the groups wrote last year in a message to Congress.
When the bill might be filed again “was not immediately clear, as kinks to it are being worked out,” Wired.com reported. “An aide to the Homeland Security committee described the bill as one that does not mandate the shuttering of the entire internet. Instead, it would authorize the president to demand turning off access to so-called “critical infrastructure” where necessary.”
For journalists, Egypt has displayed a sobering and frightening series of events in recent weeks, from beatings and threats to arrest and censorship. “What’s happening in Egypt also reminds us that brave reporters risk their lives to bring the rest of us the news. We owe it to them, as well as to their audience, to do everything we can to ensure that the news they report can and will get out to the rest of the world,” said Niles of OJR.
Below is a “Topic Mosaic” created in Storify that further explores this “kill switch” and free speech topic. We plan to compile Topic Mosiacs a regular part of the National Security Zone as a tool to help reporters who cover national security get a better understanding of issues affecting their beats.
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