**UPDATED**
… In an awkward bit of timing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to deliver a major speech on Internet freedom in Washington on Tuesday just hours after Justice Department lawyers are scheduled to be in federal court a few miles away in the first public courtroom showdown over the probe into WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. Prosecutors are expected to urge a federal magistrate in Alexandria, Va., to uphold a court order requiring Twitter to turn over confidential information about the use of its services by three WikiLeaks supporters. … – U.S weaves tangled Web policy
Sect. Clinton’s speech on Internet Freedom is streamed live here, as well as on Facebook where you can leave comments.
Clinton begins with Egypt… .. as she began commotion was heard from someone protesting, but he was quickly taken out, a door slammed behind him.
Twenty minutes into her speech, Sect. Clinton addressed Wikileaks. It began “with a theft.” Makes a case for secrecy in diplomatic efforts, again disagreeing with transparency. Talked about Wikileaks exposing people to even greater risks, but does acknowledge there is a “duty” to transparency, be “judicious” when closing off access to information. Clinton still making the case that Wikileaks did endanger diplomatic work, while also saying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the freedom of expression for all.
To add, Clinton’s emphasis on “theft” of Wikileaks is not a coincidence. As I said in the comments, it smacked of DOJ implications when she went out of her way in this section of the speech. As the POLITICO story now linked at the top reveals, DOJ today attempted to press their Twitter case re: Julian Assange and Wikileaks, just before Clinton spoke. Assange is livid at the pressure, which the POLITICO piece covers as well.
Clinton continued on saying the antidote to hate speech is more speech. Internet freedom and staying “one step ahead from the censors,” is now part of our diplomatic mission. There is “no silver bullet” against Internet oppression. “Start working,” Clinton encourage, which was greeted with chuckles. “We are taking an investor capital type of approach,” with investment in cutting edge technologies.
In a media blitz, yesterday Sect. Clinton had interviews with Abderrahim Foukara of Al Jazeera; Hisham Melhem of Al Arabiya; and Michel Ghandour of Al Hurra.
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