The internet community and the US government also often claim that all the developed economies support the concept of the ‘free internet’ as well. That may be so, but here too we are not seeing any concerted activity from the ‘free countries’, and no significant political will to raise that notion to an international level – for instance, we are not seeing the European countries jumping on the barricades trying to protect the free internet. The incumbent telco lobby here is also putting its weight behind the lobby for changes to the internet – often referred to as issues in relation to net neutrality.
To some extent also the issues discussed under the US chapter above also apply to these countries. Anti-terrorism and cyber warfare are closely linked here – perhaps not as aggressively as in the USA-Israel situation, but there is at least at many levels covert support and cyber assistance where needed.
Strong lobbying in relation to copyright issues and community pressure in relation to, for example, child pornography are all adding to the complexity of the issues of internet governance.
While many ‘free’ countries are pointing to the Arab Spring and extolling the important role the internet has played there, it has not created a political movement within those countries, one that actively supports a free internet.