Obama administration will end U.S. protection of the internet, handing authoritarian regimes the power they have long sought to censor the web globally, including in the U.S.
The battle lines were drawn back in June 2016 when the Obama administration backed a plan submitted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, to free itself in September from the U.S. oversight that has kept the internet open since the 1990s. In response, bills were introduced in the Senate and House to block the Obama internet surrender. The administration justifies unilateral surrender of U.S. oversight with the contention that authoritarian regimes will reciprocate by refraining from setting up domestic systems separate from the global internet. (see internet freedom act.)