-
tional trade and commerce, fosters innovation,
and strengthens both national and interna-
tional security. As such, United States Internet
freedom principles are inextricably linked to our
national security. Internet freedom is also a key
guiding principle with respect to other United
States foreign policy issues, such as cybercrime
-
tance, the United States will encourage other
countries to advance Internet freedom through
venues such as the Freedom Online Coalition, of
which the United States is a founding member.
WORK WITH LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES, INDUSTRY,
ACADEMIA, AND CIVIL SOCIETY:
The United
States will continue to work with like-minded
countries, industry, civil society, and other
stakeholders to advance human rights and
Internet freedom globally and to counter author-
development. The United States Government
will continue to support civil society through
integrated support for technology development,
digital safety training, policy advocacy, and
research. These programs aim to enhance the
ability of individual citizens, activists, human
rights defenders, independent journalists, civil
society organizations, and marginalized popula-
tions to safely access the uncensored Internet
and promote Internet freedom at the local,
regional, national, and international levels.
PROMOTE A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER MODEL OF
INTERNET GOVERNANCE:
The United States will
to ensure that the multi-stakeholder model of
Internet governance prevails against attempts
to create state-centric frameworks that would
undermine openness and freedom, hinder
innovation, and jeopardize the functionality of
the Internet. The multi-stakeholder model of
Internet governance is characterized by trans-
parent, bottom-up, consensus-driven processes
and enables governments, the private sector, civil
society, academia, and the technical community
to participate on equal footing. The United States
Government will defend the open, interoperable
nature of the Internet in multilateral and inter-
national fora through active engagement in key
organizations, such as the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Internet
Governance Forum, the United Nations, and
the International Telecommunication Union.
PROMOTE INTEROPERABLE AND RELIABLE
COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY:
The United States
will promote communications infrastructure
and Internet connectivity that is open, interop-
erable, reliable, and secure. Such investment
will provide greater opportunities for American
of statist, top-down government interventions
in areas of strategic competition. It will also
protect America’s security and commercial
interests by strengthening United States indus-
try’s competitive position in the global digital
economy. The Administration will also support
and promote open, industry-led standards activ-
ities based on sound technological principles.
PROMOTE AND MAINTAIN MARKETS FOR
UNITED STATES INGENUITY WORLDWIDE:
American
innovators and security professionals have
and services that improve our ability to commu-
nicate and interact globally and that protect
communications infrastructure, data, and devices
worldwide. The United States will continue
to promote markets for American ingenuity
overseas, including for emerging technologies
that can lower the cost of security. The United
States will also advise on infrastructure deploy-
25
PILLAR IV: ADVANCE AMERICAN INFLUENCE