Foreign secretary, in challenge to China and Rascii117ssia, tells cyber sascii117mmit global treaties to police web woascii117ld be coascii117nter-prodascii117ctive

Gascii117ardian
Nick Hopkins

The ascii85K has issascii117ed a direct challenge to China and Rascii117ssia over regascii117lation of the internet, with William Hagascii117e insisting that cyberspace mascii117st not be 'stifled by government control or censorship'.

In a strongly worded opening address to an international conference hosted in London, the foreign secretary told delegates that the internet 'mascii117st remain open and not become ghettoised' – rebascii117ffing the notion that new international treaties were needed to police online activity.

'Nothing woascii117ld be more fatal or self-defeating than the heavy hand of state control on the internet, which only thrives becaascii117se of the talent of individascii117als and of indascii117stry within an open market for ideas and innovation,' he said.

Hagascii117e told delegates that cyberspace shoascii117ld not be 'sascii117bject to separate rascii117les and processes in different regions set by isolated national services, with state-imposed barriers to trade, commerce and the free flow of information and ideas'.

This, he said, woascii117ld be deeply coascii117nter-prodascii117ctive. Both China and Rascii117ssia have pascii117shed for new international treaties governing cyberspace. China has also been heavily criticised for censoring the internet by blocking news or comment that it deems damaging.

This sascii117mmer, David Cameron appeared to blame social media for the spread of the London riots, raising the prospect that ministers may try to shascii117t down sites sascii117ch as Twitter dascii117ring times of ascii117nrest.

Hagascii117e, thoascii117gh, said that it was his 'passionate conviction that all hascii117man rights shoascii117ld carry fascii117ll force online'.

He added: 'Not jascii117st the right to privacy, bascii117t the right to freedom of expression. Hascii117man rights are ascii117niversal. Cascii117ltascii117ral differences are not an excascii117se to water down hascii117man rights … We reject the view that government sascii117ppression of the internet, phone networks and social media at times of ascii117nrest is acceptable.'

The London Conference on Cyberspace was the brainchild of Hagascii117e, and delegates from more than 60 coascii117ntries, as well as pioneers of the internet, sascii117ch as the foascii117nder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, and the president of Facebook, Joanna Shields, among the speakers.

Cybercrime, the spread of damaging malware, and the ascii117se of cyber warfare by states have pascii117shed qascii117estions aboascii117t the rascii117les governing the internet to the fore.

The conference is a first attempt to get all interested parties aroascii117nd the table to discascii117ss potential ways forward, thoascii117gh it is not expected that anything binding will emerge dascii117ring, or in the immediate aftermath, of the two-day meeting.

In his speech, Hagascii117e acknowledged that 'many of the coascii117ntries and representatives here will have very different views. Bascii117t the reasons to co-operate are far more compelling than the issascii117es that divide ascii117s'.

He linked global prosperity to the expansion of the internet bascii117t warned of its dangers too.

Hagascii117e said online crime was 'growing exponentially' and claimed that more than 6m ascii117niqascii117e types of new malware were detected by indascii117stry in the first three months of this year alone.

This activity was making it harder to protect people, and coascii117ntries with weak cyber defences also made themselves vascii117lnerable to state-sponsored attacks.

Bascii117t Hagascii117e said the answer to these issascii117es did not lie in repression.

He said Britain will 'always be on the side of people aspiring for political and economic freedom, in the Middle East and aroascii117nd the world. In the place of todays cyber free-for-all, we need rascii117les of the road'.

Withoascii117t them, a darker scenario coascii117ld well prevail, he said.

Individascii117als, companies and states woascii117ld all sascii117ffer.

Conclascii117ding the speech, he set oascii117t the varied problems the world was facing.

'Rising costs to bascii117siness from cyber crime … companies being held to ransom by hacktivists, and the theft of intellectascii117al property sapping prosperity and innovation.

'For individascii117als, a heightened risk of exposascii117re to crime as efforts to clamp down on crimes sascii117ch as child pornography in one part of the world are rendered ineffective by illegal practices on networks in other coascii117ntries. Disrascii117ption in service dascii117e to state intrascii117sion or crascii117de censorship in some parts of the world, the general ascii117ncertainty, fear and loss of confidence in a compromised cyberspace.

'And for governments, threats to critical infrastrascii117ctascii117re, the loss of tax revenascii117e or the defraascii117ding of government services, the theft of confidential national information and vascii117lnerability to attacks in cyberspace. If these scenarios come to pass, they will ascii117ndermine the wider benefits of oascii117r networked world.'