In two days, Obama plans to turn oversight of the internet over to the capable despots of the U.N. His reason:
"the U.S. has sought to unwind its influence from the Web’s architecture, arguing that experts from the international community — and not governments, including Washington — should oversee its day-to-day operation"
Um. Barry, America built the internet. We let everybody use it, but oversight belongs to us. And if the US doesn't want governments controlling the internet, then why hand it over to a governmental organization? Why not just let tech companies in the US handle it?
It seems, unfortunately, that this is simply yet another effort to achieve "fundamental transformation" of America by attempting an end-run around our Constitution: because the US Constitution doesn't let the US government censor the internet, but other governments can. Fortunately, four attorneys general have filed suit in federal court to block the handover, arguing that it would violate our Constitution.
“Trusting authoritarian regimes to ensure the continued freedom of the internet is lunacy,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement. “The president does not have the authority to simply give away America’s pioneering role in ensuring that the internet remains a place where free expression can flourish.”
And Paxton is exactly right. Time and again, we have seen such regimes limit internet access to their citizens, or shut it off completely. They routinely censor websites as well; this very blogsite has been banned in China, presumably because it's considered somehow dangerous.
While we may take our fundamental right to freedom of speech for granted, many people in many countries are denied that right. And it appears that Obama has planned to ensure that our fundamental right - at least insofar as internet communications go - can be restricted at any time.