Web Access Is New Clinton Doctrine

The US will make unrestricted access to the Internet a top foreign-policy priority, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to announce Thursday.

The announcement, which has been scheduled for weeks, comes in the wake of accusations last week that Chinese hackers penetrated Google's computer networks. The attack, which also targeted Chinese dissidents, is the kind of issue Sec Clinton aims to address, said Alec Ross, a senior adviser. The growing role of the Internet in foreign policy became clear last year during protests in Iran after allegations of election fraud. The government tried to crack down on protesters' Internet communications, but they circumvented digital blockades to send out video and Twitter messages about violence against demonstrators. In one new initiative, the State Department plans to offer financial support to grass-roots movements that promote Internet freedom, Ross said. Sec Clinton also hopes to diminish the "honor" beatings and killings of women in the Middle East by family members who discover they are using social media on the Internet, such as Facebook or Twitter, he said. Sec Clinton sees Internet freedom as critical to America's longstanding promotion of democracy abroad, Ross added. She aims to shrink the proportion of the global population, now 30%, who live in countries that censor the Internet, he said.