Google links censorship with free trade

According to Forbes For the past several months, Google has been quietly lobbying the U.S. government to include restrictions against Internet censorship as a stipulation in free trade agreements with other countries. This newsletter has been- and possibly still is, blocked and censored in China- we wholeheartedly agree with this policy:

The California-based Internet giant says that barriers to the free flow of information over the Web restrict commerce and economic development, and should therefore be considered barriers to free trade as well. “Given the recent history that we’ve seen with respect to certain countries starting to censor the free flow of information over the Internet, we believe it really should be a top priority for our government,” says Pablo Chavez, Google’s Washington policy counsel. It’s a new approach to an area of international trade that is still largely undefined. If an Internet company operating in a foreign country is suddenly exposed to censorship, it has virtually no recourse. Google, it seems, wants to get the rules in writing up front…

The company has also not said specifically how it seeks to alter trade agreements or which free trade deals would be affected. Google first alluded to its anti-censoring efforts last month in a blog post on its Web site, after the Associated Press ran a story on the issue. Strangely, the discussion quickly died down.

Since then, it has had another round of discussions with officials at the State Department (which typically has jurisdiction over censorship issues), USTR and on key Congressional committees. In its recent negotiations, Google is pushing four key points: that free information flows are important for the global economy, that trade should not be restricted by the regulation of the Internet, that all players on the Web are treated fairly and that laws should be put in place to make any Internet restrictions transparent. Google says it has received a positive response from government officials.