WTO and Internet Censorship

Filed in archive Internet on December 24, 2007

In a world where information is a commercial product and providing access to information over the Internet is a major growth industry, is censorship a violation of free trade?

You'd think that question would have come up before now, but over the last few weeks that issue has started to perhaps grow teeth...

In a meaty piece at the First Amendment Law Prof Blog, Kathleen A. Bergin reports the that "The California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) hopes that free trade laws can be used to end internet censorship in China." The blog post is a look at whether something as simple as a trade agreement could curb censorship in China.

CFAC is trying to get the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against China on the censorship issue. A quote from Bergin's piece:

In an interview posted on Business Wire, CFAC's executive director Peter Scheer noted that internet censorship, though fundamentally an issue of free speech, creates market barriers against international trade that could violate China's obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

In a different post on the issue, Antony Loewenstein, points out that debate on the issue is only just beginning.

I look forward to seeing how this issue gets played out in the international arena and the the court of public opinion in Western nations...