Inbound Marketing Strategist, Doctoral Student, Speaker

The Freedom to Connect

Secretary Clinton delivered a powerful speech earlier today via state.gov about internet freedom which embraced openness  and collaboration on the internet.

Clinton remarked “remember the little girl who was pulled from the rubble on Monday in Port-au-Prince. She’s alive, she was reunited with her family, she will have the chance to grow up because these networks took a voice that was buried and spread it to the world. No nation, no group, no individual should stay buried in the rubble of oppression.

Secretary Clinton also stressed the benefits of allowing access to the internet and the importance of working to ensure one, safe, global internet  (vs numerous internets globally). The power of the mobile phone , SMS/ text messaging and search engines were also touched upon.

According to Secretary Clinton, emerging grants will support innovative ideas  and other technologies (e.g. app development).  This news struck such a chord with me- moving me to share it, on Twitter, of course.  ”We need to synchronize our technological progress with our principles”, Secretary Clinton commented. It was refreshing to learn our government understands new media continues to empower and  evolve.

Secretary Clinton also mentioned the Global Internet Task Force and the Global Network Initiative , which protects and advances freedom of expression…in all speech, including virtual speech. Secretary Clinton encouraged engaging in free speech on the internet rather than shying away from debate.  Read the principles of the Global Network Initiative.

Those of us who engage online understand the power of social media, social networkings and connected communities are equally important as our off-line relationships.  I trust internet freedom will  include empowering communities by helping them to develop the skills they need to harness and build solutions for themselves. This new internet freedom policy must help to support  innovative ideas, shrink the digital divide and serve as the connector –marrying innovators with strategic partners.

Below is more of  what Secretary Clinton shared earlier:

This is an important speech on a very important subject. But before I begin, I want to just speak briefly about Haiti, because during the last eight days, the people of Haiti and the people of the world have joined together to deal with a tragedy of staggering proportions. Our hemisphere has seen its share of hardship, but there are few precedents for the situation we’re facing in Port-au-Prince. Communication networks have played a critical role in our response. They were, of course, decimated and in many places totally destroyed. And in the hours after the quake, we worked with partners in the private sector; first, to set up the text “HAITI” campaign so that mobile phone users in the United States could donate to relief efforts via text messages. That initiative has been a showcase for the generosity of the American people, and thus far, it’s raised over $25 million for recovery efforts.

Information networks have also played a critical role on the ground. When I was with President Preval in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, one of his top priorities was to try to get communication up and going. The government couldn’t talk to each other, what was left of it, and NGOs, our civilian leadership, our military leadership were severely impacted. The technology community has set up interactive maps to help us identify needs and target resources. And on Monday, a seven-year-old girl and two women were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket by an American search-and-rescue team after they sent a text message calling for help. Now, these examples are manifestations of a much broader phenomenon.

The spread of information networks is forming a new nervous system for our planet. When something happens in Haiti or Hunan, the rest of us learn about it in real time – from real people. And we can respond in real time as well. Americans eager to help in the aftermath of a disaster and the girl trapped in the supermarket are connected in ways that were not even imagined a year ago, even a generation ago. That same principle applies to almost all of humanity today. As we sit here, any of you – or maybe more likely, any of our children – can take out the tools that many carry every day and transmit this discussion to billions across the world.

Read the complete speech: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks on Internet Freedom and watch the video.