UK, U.S. talk tough on web freedom at cyber talks

Britain and the United States strongly rejected calls from China and Russia for greater Internet controls at a major conference on the future of cyberspace, although Western states too faced accusations of double standards.

While Western states worry about intellectual property theft and hacking, authoritarian governments are alarmed at the role the Internet and social media played in the protests that swept the Arab world this year. In September, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan proposed to the United Nations a global code of conduct including the principle that "policy authority for Internet-related public issues is the sovereign right of states." Cyber security experts say western Nations hoped to fend off those calls for a "cyber treaty" and to prompt China, Russia and others to rein in hackers.