‘The Time Has Come!’ Says Rep. Smith on Bill Combating Internet Censorship

WASHINGTON—With Google’s announcement in January that it is no longer willing to censor search results in China, a new boost was given to the proposed Global Online Freedom Act, which can restrict U.S. companies from complying with demands of repressive countries that constrain freedom on the Internet. Democratic Congressman David Wu (Ore) is joining Republican Congressman Smith with the hope that this year Congress will pass the Global Online Freedom Act (GOFA) of 2009, H.R. 2271.

The two Congressmen held a news conference March 9 on Capitol Hill to announce that the Global Internet Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives was now a registered Congressional member organization, with Wu and Smith serving as co-chairs. Rep. Wu said the Caucus would serve as a forum to discuss online freedom issues and “address minimum standards of conduct for U.S. businesses that operate in Internet-suppressing countries.”