US, partner countries launch declaration to promote free, open internet

The United States, all European Union member states, and 32 non-EU countries have announced a "Declaration for the Future of the Internet" that lays out priorities for an "open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, and secure" internet. It highlights goals like affordability, net neutrality, and removing illegal content without curtailing free expression - although it offers few specifics for achieving them.

The declaration is a modified version of the White House's efforts from last year to rally a coalition of democracies around a vision for an open and free web.

Countries like China and Russia are missing from the list. Restrictions placed on the internet by those countries are part of the reason the declaration is necessary, a senior administration official told reporters. Later, an official called an open internet "the key part of the overall struggle between democracies and authoritarian governments."

The Declaration does not feature any specific actions to be undertaken by the US or any of its partner countries, ranging from Albania, to the UK. The White House says it is a political commitment to "advance a positive vision for the internet and digital technologies," which "reclaims the promise of the internet."

Read more -here-