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AP Photo/Yves Logghe
The European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes.
# internet governance
EU takes role of "honest broker" and pushes for less US control of the internet
The European Commission has set out a number of proposals to change the way the internet is run globally and reduce the level of control the US has over it.
THE EU IS proposing measures that would reduce US control over the internet and change the way it’s run globally.
After concerns relating to the NSA and US surveillance, the European Commission has listed out a number of proposals which call for greater transparency, accountability and inclusive governance.
Some of the proposals included making the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation that assigns internet domain names and is operating under contract with the US government, a global organisation as well as safeguards that will protect the open nature of the internet,
The European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes said for effective change to occur, there should be general guidelines for all countries to follow instead of allowing individual governments to come up with their own guidelines.
I agree that governments have a crucial role to play, but top-down approaches are not the right answer. We must strengthen the multi-stakeholder model to preserve the internet as a fast engine for innovation.
Kroes says that the next two years will be “criticial in redrawing the global map of internet governance,” and that Europe must play “a strong role” in shaping these regulations.
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