Robert Halfon MP defends the Open Internet

On Tuesday, Robert Halfon MP defended the Open Internet in a debate in Parliament. In defending a free Internet from a assault on it by regulation, Mr. Halfon said, "when it comes to free expression, regulation is censorship by another name."

The debate centred on a ten minute rule bill introduced by Mike Gapes MP called the Electoral Registration, Identification and Eligibility for Voting Bill. In this bill, Mr. Gapes proposed various remedies to electoral and voter fraud problems. However, at the end of his introductory speech, Mr. Gapes said, "We should tighten up the rules to regulate what can be put on the internet."

It is on this point that Mr. Halfon disagreed. Though he did not dispute the worthiness of the bill and its aims, Mr Halfon said, "Effectively, he is calling for regulation of the internet. He has built a Trojan horse of censorship under cover of making every vote count fairly. His proposal is wrong for two reasons: it would amount to a huge assault on individual freedom of expression, and it is unenforceable."

Mr. Halfon went on to say, "We are regularly criticised on Twitter and other social media sites-sometimes outrageous or even libellous things are written, and I have also been a victim of some of the things that the hon. Gentleman described-but that is mostly part and parcel of politics. I do not believe we should bring in a law to stop it because it is the essence of a free society. Negative campaigning, however frustrating, is part of free speech and we must hope that the truth will ultimately shine through in a marketplace of ideas."

Mr. Halfon is saying what isn't often said from government itself. Namely, the government should not impose regulation of any kind on the Internet. From net neutrality to web blocking to political censorship, all of these notions at their very heart recommend some sort of government backed intervention in the form of regulation. And Mr. Halfon is upholding the idea that we need to preserve an open, free, competitive, and innovative Internet like we already have here in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Halfon's excellent speech and the rest of the debate can be found here. It is well worth the read.

Comments

[Chris]

Not all regulation is bad.

Isn't "Net Neutrality" a regulation to preserve an open, free and competitive Internet and therefore a "good thing (tm)"?

[Dominique Lazanski]

While I agree with you that some regulation isn't 'bad' net neutrality doesn't fall into that camp. Fundamentally shifting business practices and investment away from an Internet that doesn't need regulation would cause unintended consequences that would impact the free an open Internet that we have today.

[Joe Public]

Without the Net, many of us would be ignorant of the hypocrisy & deviousness of (some) politicians.

Why, only today MPs are trying the "Do as I say, not as I do" by excluding (only) themselves from tax avoidance legislation -

Legislation to prevent the practice of disguised remuneration, which uses trusts to provide non-repayable tax free loans and offshore pension schemes to avoid tax, was included in the Finance Bill.

However, section 554E (8) says the legislation "does not apply by reason of a relevant step taken by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority in relation to a member of the House of Commons".

[burberry store]

Mr. Halfon's excellent speech and the rest of the debate can be found here. It is well worth the read.

[christian louboutin]

Legislation to prevent the practice of disguised remuneration, which uses trusts to provide non-repayable tax free loans and offshore pension schemes to avoid tax, was included in the Finance Bill

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Why, only today MPs are trying the "Do as I say, not as I do" by excluding (only) themselves from tax avoidance legislation -