Miriam Defensor-Santiago Quotes

I think we should not control the Internet.

In Russia, they do not generally block the Internet and directly censor websites.

The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it.

The thing I have come to find astonishing is that people from all political sides routinely say that the Internet has to be the model of free speech and freedom.

The Internet's distinct configuration may have facilitated anonymous threats, copyright infringement, and cyberattacks, but it has also kindled the flame of freedom in ways that the framers of the American constitution would appreciate - the Federalist papers were famously authored pseudonymously.

Both the American people and nations that censor the internet should understand that our government is committed to helping promote internet freedom.

The Internet in China is fully open and the Chinese Government manages the Internet according to the law. As for what you can and cannot watch, watch what you can watch, and don’t watch what you cannot watch.

We think of the Internet as a bottom-up phenomenon. There are people and countries that would like to treat it as a top-down institution; Americans resist that and I think rightfully so. It would cramp our style in terms of creativity, innovation, and so forth.

One of the great debates about the Internet is whether it is making people more or less free.

Can any sane person say that before something comes on the Net you must screen it? How can there be pre-screening?

The Internet should be an open platform where you are free to go where you want and say and do what you want without having to ask anyone's permission.

There's a fundamental difference between people who want to see the Internet and say - 'Let's lobotomize and censor parts of it because we need to control it' - and those like us who see the Internet as a method of growing the economy and innovating in front of the world. And we have to actually reconcile those two positions. And we believe that it is much better to protect this crown jewel of civilization, which is the ability for us to communicate and express our ideas freely, than to try to lobotomize it.

As long as a government can come and shoot you, you can't jump on the Internet to freedom.

Even with censorship, the Internet is a force for change.

It's much easier to force intermediary communications and Internet companies such as Google to police themselves and their users than the alternatives: sending cops after everybody who attempts a risque or politically sensitive search, getting parents and teachers to do their jobs, or chasing down the origin of every offending link.

The federal government seeks to control and regulate the Internet, but the last thing this Congress should be doing is trying to stifle public debate online.

Crackdowns on Internet content make clear the need for an anonymized Web. Now, someone just needs to implement it.

We need to codify our values and build consensus around what we want from a free society and a free Internet. We need to put into law protections for our privacy and our right to speak and assemble.

There are a lot of people that think the Internet is going to bring information and democracy and pluralism in China just by existing.

I am in favor of complete freedom of information and of free access to the new communication tools, in particular the Internet.

The user in China wants the same thing that any Internet user wants - privacy in conversations, maximum access to information, and the ability to speak their minds online.

If the U.N. were to be successful in its efforts to control the Internet, countries where human rights records range from questionable to criminal could be put in charge of determining what is and is not allowed to appear online.

It's very difficult for governments to dominate the Internet because it's so difficult to control. People want to be free. People want to hear multiple voices. They want to make their own decisions. And people who see things will report things.

Disclosure and transparency are the currency of the Internet, and they are at odds with authoritarianism.

The Internet is a politically contested space.