The White House has announced that the United States and 60 global partners have signed a new document called A Declaration for the Future of the Internet (PDF) which is designed to promote a global single internet that’s open, offers competition, and respects human rights and privacy.
The three-page document offers an introduction explaining why the document is needed then goes on to outline the vision of the signatories, it then lists the principles the signatories want to uphold to ensure the vision is achieved. The key principles in the document are as follows:
- Protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people;
- Promote a global Internet that advances the free flow of information;
- Advance inclusive and affordable connectivity so that all people can benefit from the digital economy;
- Promote trust in the global digital ecosystem, including through protection of privacy; and
- Protect and strengthen the multi-stakeholder approach to governance that keeps the Internet running for the benefit of all.
The European Commission, which also signed the declaration, said that the document was “strongly anchored” in the EU’s own Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles that it would like to enact.
The signatories to the Declaration for the Future of the Internet so far consist of the United States, Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, the European Commission, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, North Macedonia, Palau, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Uruguay.