OECD Calls on Members to Defend Internet Freedoms

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As a rising tide of digital dissent raises alarms in many capitals around the world, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called on member countries to “promote and protect the global free flow of information” online.

The OECD , a group of 34 developed countries, urged policy makers to support investment in digital networks and to take a light touch on regulation, saying this was essential for promoting economic growth via the Internet. “It’s really a milestone in terms of making a statement about openness,” said Karen Kornbluh, the U.S. ambassador to the OECD, “You can’t really get the innovation you need in terms of creating jobs unless we work together to protect the openness of the Internet.” The approval of the recommendations by the OECD council builds on a communiqué issued at a meeting in June, when the broad outlines of the policy were drawn up. The guidelines are not binding, but are intended to work through the power of persuasion . Also, the Internet recommendations will from now on be included among the criteria for assessing candidates for membership in the OECD, which is based in Paris. Among other things, the OECD recommendation urges policy makers to “limit Internet intermediary liability” — that is, to shield Internet companies from responsibility for the content that they carry. Under existing U.S. laws, Internet companies have a so-called safe harbor if they take down copyright violations when they are informed of them.


OECD Calls on Members to Defend Internet Freedoms OECD Council Recommendation on Principles for Internet Policy Making (OECD)