BETA


2006/2600(RSP) Resolution on freedom of expression on the Internet

Progress: Procedure completed

Legal Basis:
RoP 144

Events

2006/08/28
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2006/07/06
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2006/07/06
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2006/07/06
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a joint resolution on f reedom of expression on the internet by 65 votes in favour, none against and two abstentions.

It pointed out that , according to Reporters Without Borders, authoritarian regimes and governments have been working on ever more far-reaching methods of controlling the Internet, chiefly using more and more sophisticated filtering technology and surveillance of electronic communications and setting-up cyber-police. A large number of cyber-dissidents are detained in prison - most of them in China. A number of countries can be seen as enemies of freedom of expression on-line as stated in the last Reporters Without Borders report, including China, Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. The Chinese government has successfully persuaded companies such as Yahoo, Google and Microsoft to facilitate the censorship of their services in the Chinese internet market. Furthermore, equipment and technologies supplied by Western companies such as CISCO Systems, Telecom Italia, Wanadoo, a subsidiary of France Telecom have been used by governments for the purpose of censoring the Internet preventing freedom of expression. Parliament also pointed out that US legislators introduced a bill in February 2006, the Global On-line Freedom Act, aimed at regulating the activities of Internet businesses when they operate in repressive countries.

In the face of this, Parliament reaffirmed the fact that freedom of expression is a key value shared by all EU countries and that they have to take concrete steps to defend it. It called on the Council and the EU Member States to agree on a joint statement confirming their commitment in favour of the protection of the rights of internet users and of the promotion of free expression on the internet world-wide. It reiterated its commitment to the principles which were confirmed at the World Summit in Tunis of 16-18 November 2005 on the primary importance of the information society for democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms:

- building the information society on the basis of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

- combating the digital divide and seeking resources for action plans to foster development,

- developing Internet governance arrangements which are more balanced, pluralist and representative of the States involved, to meet the new technological challenges (spamming, data protection, etc.).

Parliament strongly condemned restrictions on Internet content, whether they apply to the dissemination or to the receipt of information that are imposed by Governments and are not in strict conformity with the guarantee of freedom of expression. It also strongly condemned the harassment and imprisonment of journalists and others who are expressing their opinions on the Internet. It called on the Council and the Commission to do the following:

- take all necessary measures vis-à-vis the authorities of the concerned countries for the immediate release of all detained Internet users.

- draw up a voluntary code of conduct that would put limits on the activities of companies in repressive countries;

- maintain the presence and active participation of the EU and the presentation of common positions especially with ECOSOC, ITU, UNESCO and UNDP;

- take into account the need for unrestricted Internet access by their citizens, when considering its assistance programmes to third countries.

Finally, Parliament welcomed the Joint Investor Statement on Freedom of Expression and the Internet at the initiative of Reporters Without Borders. It stressed that corporations which provide Internet searching, chat, publishing or other services should have a responsibility to ensure that the rights of users are respected.

Documents
2006/07/06
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2006/07/04
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2006/07/04
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2006/07/04
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2006/07/04
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2006/07/04
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2006/07/04
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2006/07/04
   Joint motion for resolution
Documents

Documents

Votes

RC B6-0401/2006 - Liberté d'expression sur Internet - résolution #

2006/07/06 Outcome: +: 65, 0: 2
PL DE FR AT EL ES PT IE IT LT GB DK NL CY LU CZ SK BE SE
Total
18
11
9
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
30

Austria PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Ireland PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Lithuania PPE-DE

1

United Kingdom PPE-DE

2

Luxembourg PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Czechia PPE-DE

1

Slovakia PPE-DE

For (1)

1
icon: PSE PSE
16

Germany PSE

1

Austria PSE

2

Lithuania PSE

For (1)

1

Belgium PSE

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
4

Poland ALDE

1

Denmark ALDE

For (1)

1

Netherlands ALDE

For (1)

1

Cyprus ALDE

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
4

Italy NI

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
4

France Verts/ALE

2

Spain Verts/ALE

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
3

Poland IND/DEM

2

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1
icon: UEN UEN
3

Poland UEN

2

Italy UEN

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
3

Germany GUE/NGL

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Czechia GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

1

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/7
date
2006-08-28T00:00:00
docs
url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=12453&j=0&l=en title: SP(2006)3801
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
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EC
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events/2
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2006-07-06T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2006-0324_EN.html title: T6-0324/2006
summary
events/2
date
2006-07-06T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
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summary
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docs/7
date
2006-08-28T00:00:00
docs
url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=12453&j=0&l=en title: SP(2006)3801
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events/0/docs/0/url
Old
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activities
  • date: 2006-07-06T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=12453&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060706&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-324 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0324/2006 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
    docs
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-401&language=EN title: B6-0401/2006 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-402&language=EN title: B6-0402/2006 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-404&language=EN title: B6-0404/2006 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-408&language=EN title: B6-0408/2006 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-411&language=EN title: B6-0411/2006 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-414&language=EN title: B6-0414/2006 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2006-07-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P6-RC-2006-401&language=EN title: RC-B6-0401/2006 type: Joint motion for resolution
    • date: 2006-08-28T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=12453&j=0&l=en title: SP(2006)3801 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
    events
    • date: 2006-07-06T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=12453&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
    • date: 2006-07-06T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060706&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
    • date: 2006-07-06T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-324 title: T6-0324/2006 summary: The European Parliament adopted a joint resolution on f reedom of expression on the internet by 65 votes in favour, none against and two abstentions. It pointed out that , according to Reporters Without Borders, authoritarian regimes and governments have been working on ever more far-reaching methods of controlling the Internet, chiefly using more and more sophisticated filtering technology and surveillance of electronic communications and setting-up cyber-police. A large number of cyber-dissidents are detained in prison - most of them in China. A number of countries can be seen as enemies of freedom of expression on-line as stated in the last Reporters Without Borders report, including China, Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. The Chinese government has successfully persuaded companies such as Yahoo, Google and Microsoft to facilitate the censorship of their services in the Chinese internet market. Furthermore, equipment and technologies supplied by Western companies such as CISCO Systems, Telecom Italia, Wanadoo, a subsidiary of France Telecom have been used by governments for the purpose of censoring the Internet preventing freedom of expression. Parliament also pointed out that US legislators introduced a bill in February 2006, the Global On-line Freedom Act, aimed at regulating the activities of Internet businesses when they operate in repressive countries. In the face of this, Parliament reaffirmed the fact that freedom of expression is a key value shared by all EU countries and that they have to take concrete steps to defend it. It called on the Council and the EU Member States to agree on a joint statement confirming their commitment in favour of the protection of the rights of internet users and of the promotion of free expression on the internet world-wide. It reiterated its commitment to the principles which were confirmed at the World Summit in Tunis of 16-18 November 2005 on the primary importance of the information society for democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms: - building the information society on the basis of human rights and fundamental freedoms; - combating the digital divide and seeking resources for action plans to foster development, - developing Internet governance arrangements which are more balanced, pluralist and representative of the States involved, to meet the new technological challenges (spamming, data protection, etc.). Parliament strongly condemned restrictions on Internet content, whether they apply to the dissemination or to the receipt of information that are imposed by Governments and are not in strict conformity with the guarantee of freedom of expression. It also strongly condemned the harassment and imprisonment of journalists and others who are expressing their opinions on the Internet. It called on the Council and the Commission to do the following: - take all necessary measures vis-à-vis the authorities of the concerned countries for the immediate release of all detained Internet users. - draw up a voluntary code of conduct that would put limits on the activities of companies in repressive countries; - maintain the presence and active participation of the EU and the presentation of common positions especially with ECOSOC, ITU, UNESCO and UNDP; - take into account the need for unrestricted Internet access by their citizens, when considering its assistance programmes to third countries. Finally, Parliament welcomed the Joint Investor Statement on Freedom of Expression and the Internet at the initiative of Reporters Without Borders. It stressed that corporations which provide Internet searching, chat, publishing or other services should have a responsibility to ensure that the rights of users are respected.
    • date: 2006-07-06T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
    links
    other
      procedure/legal_basis/0
      Rules of Procedure EP 135
      procedure/legal_basis/0
      Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 135
      procedure/subject
      Old
      • 3.30.25 International information networks and society, internet
      New
      3.30.25
      International information networks and society, internet
      activities
      • date: 2006-07-06T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=12453&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060706&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-324 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0324/2006 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
      committees
        links
        other
          procedure
          reference
          2006/2600(RSP)
          title
          Resolution on freedom of expression on the Internet
          legal_basis
          Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 135
          stage_reached
          Procedure completed
          subtype
          Urgent debate or resolution
          type
          RSP - Resolutions on topical subjects
          subject
          3.30.25 International information networks and society, internet