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European Parliament and online free expression

Last week the European Parliament passed a resolution on onlie free expression, criticizing Internet companies that cooperate with repressive regimes. [Link]

The resolution calls on the European Commission to establish a "voluntary code of conduct" that places limits on the activities of companies in repressive countries and urges it to take account of the need for unhindered Internet access when considering its assistance programmes to third countries. The resolution is not, however, binding on the commission, which has exclusive responsibility for implementing EU policy in this area.

Yahoo !, Google and Microsoft are singled out for agreeing to censor themselves in China. Cisco Systems is accused of supplying Internet censorship technology. The European companies France Telecom and Telecom Italia are named because of their Internet area cooperation with Tunisia and Cuba.

jon posted this at 8:24 AM
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