Durbin Urges Internet Giants To Review Policies

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wrote Monday that companies like Facebook and Google should take steps to ensure that oppressive governments cannot use the Internet to silence their people.

In an op-ed for Politico, Durbin said he was proud that demonstrators were able to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to unite against hard-line regimes in Iran, Egypt and Libya, but warned that those governments have also been using those same technologies to keep themselves in power.

“With a few notable exceptions, the technology industry is failing to address serious human rights challenges,” Durbin wrote. “The industry has a moral obligation to ensure that its products and services do not help repressive governments. If U.S. companies are unwilling to take reasonable steps to protect human rights, Congress must step in.”

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