14 DAY TRIAL // Eleven activist groups that fight for the neutrality of the internet, wrote a letter to the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, urging them to maintain freedom and privacy in the online environment.
Open Rights Group, Index on Censorship, Privacy International, Evgeny Morozov, Heather Brooke, openDemocracy, Global Partners, The Net Delusion, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others signed a letter which wants to raise the government's awareness with the occasion of the Conference on Cyberspace that takes place in London.
“The conference will take place in the shadow of revolutions that have laid bare the relationship between technology, citizens' freedom and political power. This has created a unique opportunity for the UK government to show leadership in promoting the rights of citizens online,” reads the letter.
The activists believe that the UK will have a hard time promoting freedom of expression ideals since their domestic policies interfere with such ideals.
The government's plans to filter out content they believe to be terrorist related or even adult content raises deep concerns from the groups. The paper mentions Claire Perry MP's inquiry specifically as being something that will not help net neutrality in any way.
They even went as far to compare UK with China after the Prime Minister suggested the potential shutdown of social media during riots.
The conference is called a “historic opportunity” in which the state can show its support towards technology, instead of undermining the social authority of citizens.
“We call for the UK government to seize this opportunity to reject censorship and surveillance that undermines people's rights to express themselves, organise or communicate freely. That is the only way to both enshrine the rights of citizens in the UK and to support these principles internationally.”
“This conference should herald a new stage in which these principles are upheld in UK policy,“ concludes the letter.