Internet Censorship is a Trade Issue Too

Government Internet censorship doesn’t just hurt people inside a country; it may also damage companies outside that country, said former White House deputy chief technology officer Andrew McLaughlin. When China and other nations block the websites of U.S. companies but the United States doesn’t respond in kind there’s a strong argument that creates an unfair trade barrier.

McLaughlin cited the example of Facebook, which is blocked in China, and Renren, a Chinese social networking service colloquially known as the “Facebook of China.” Renren became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011. “At the same time the U.S. sits here and watches Facebook get blocked in China, we allow Renren . . . to come to our capital markets to raise $780 million in an IPO from investors we’re facilitating,” McLaughlin said. “We give them access to our markets; they block us from their markets. That seems like a classic trade barrier and one that the United States should take seriously.”