US Fights Critiques of How Web Is Managed

US officials are fighting off another upswell of dissent from countries irked by the way the Internet is managed.

The latest debate at the International Telecommunication Union’s conference in Busan, South Korea, could eventually determine whether the United Nations agency in charge of radio and telephone standards claims a role in setting rules for the Internet, too. More than 190 nations are haggling at the summit, which entered its formal debate phase over the weekend. The main argument covers whether the ITU’s mandate covering “information and communication technology” specifically includes the Internet, a network that didn’t exist for most of the organization’s 149-year history. US officials and their allies are working to keep the Web separate, while countries including Russia and several Arab states have filed resolutions that would give the ITU a stronger hand.