Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement upon House passage of H.R. 1580, bipartisan legislation that seeks to ensure the Internet remains free from international regulation by preserving the multi-stakeholder model that governs the Internet:

“The free flow of information and commerce is the very bedrock of our economy and our society and is vital to the freedom of people around the world. 

“With this passage of H.R. 1580 today, the House has clearly stated its broad and bipartisan support of an open Internet free of the United Nations regulation sought by freedom-repressing nations that seek to control the Internet’s content and access to it by their citizens.”

Note:  In December, at the most recent U.N. International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference, a coalition of governments, including repressive ones like Russia and China, voted to give the ITU the authority to regulate the Internet and its content.  In February, Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade joined with the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology for a joint hearing entitled “Fighting for Internet Freedom: Dubai and Beyond.”

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