speaks about the future of
the internet, and how countries can work together to ensure it
remains open and safe for people across the world.
"When the internet was invented back in the late 1980s, it was
built on some core founding principles.
Egalitarianism.
Openness.
The idea that any individual from across the world could be
interconnected with another.
As Tim Berners Lee, the Brit who invented the world wide web, put
it: “This is for everyone.”
This Declaration for the Future of the Internet is a
re-commitment to that vision.
It’s a commitment to defend an internet that is open and
inclusive; an internet that respects human rights, privacy and
freedom.
And I am enormously encouraged to see online safety is a key
principle of that declaration.
As the UK’s Digital Secretary, doing more to protect people
online is one of my main priorities - and last month, I was proud
to introduce a groundbreaking Online Safety Bill to the UK
Parliament that will make the internet safer for everyone.
Our legislation has the protection of children at its heart.
It will tackle criminal activity online.
And crucially, it is underpinned by our commitment to fundamental
freedoms and human rights - particularly free speech.
I believe we’re at a turning point in the digital age.
We’re entering a new chapter where tech companies are held fully
accountable for the content on their platforms…
…That they uphold their own promises to their users, to protect
people from things like toxic racist and misogynistic abuse, and
protect children from cyberbullying and other harmful behaviour…
That we make sure the internet is a place where people’s rights
to participate in society and engage in robust debate are
protected.
Our measures - and the measures that we’re seeing elsewhere, such
as in the EU, and Australia - will help make the internet a safer
place for everyone
And we’ll continue to work with international partners to ensure
that the promise of a free, open and secure internet - one that
everyone can participate in safely - is realised and defended.
To do that, we need a positive vision of the values that underpin
our internet, and that should underpin the digital tech of the
future.
Last year, I brought together a diverse set of countries and
stakeholders at the Future Tech Forum and the UK led discussions
at the global Internet Governance Forum to discuss exactly these
values.
And our overriding conclusion was that the internet has been such
a success because we’ve worked together on its governance - not
just as governments but across civil society, technical experts
and industry.
However, in recent years we’ve seen challenges to this approach.
Challenges that have sought to steer the internet away from what
has made it so successful - in particular, the open and
collaborative nature of its multi-stakeholder governance system -
and ones that propose to remake the very core of the internet.
As open societies, we should be clear that we will resist
attempts to bring the internet under restrictive government
control - or to regulate it through concentrated, top-down
processes.
It’s only by continuing to work together that we can capitalise
on the benefits of a truly global internet that delivers for all.
The UK is proud to work with others in support of this aim,
through this declaration, as well as through our own efforts to
bring together stakeholders.
Conclusion
Ultimately, we are all here as we believe the internet holds the
enormous potential to benefit our lives.
But over the coming decade, the challenge we face is to fight for
those values - something that will require vigilance and
proactive collaboration.
From the bedrock of the internet’s technical protocols to the
safety of our citizens online, governments must come together to
support this positive vision of an open, free and secure global
internet for all.
This Declaration is an important step in that direction and I’m
delighted to endorse it on behalf of the UK."
