Cameron cautions on internet crackdown

Fears of cyber attacks and rising online crime must not be an excuse for a “heavy-handed” crackdown on freedom on the internet, David Cameron has said.

Addressing an international cyberspace conference in London yesterday, the Prime Minister said it was essential to strike a balance between the needs of online security and the right to free expression.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was not acceptable for governments to try to close down social media and mobile phone networks at times of social unrest.

However, critics contrasted his comments with Mr Cameron’s response to the London riots, when he suggested preventing people using websites and mobile phones to plot violence and disorder.

“It’s very easy to defend the case of black and white – human rights against dictatorships – around the world,” John Kampf-ner, the chief executive of the Index on Censorship, told the conference.

“But as soon as our own western-style stability of the state is called into question, then freedom of expression is expendable. There should be one rule for all, including western governments.”

The call by Mr Cameron and Mr Hague for human rights online to be respected was seen as a direct challenge to Russia and China, which have been pressing for tighter regulation of the internet.

“We cannot leave cyberspace open to the criminals and the terrorists that threaten our security and our prosperity but at the same time we cannot just go down the heavy-handed route,” Mr Cameron said.

Mr Hague stressed the need to end the current “cyber free-for-all” in the face of rising online crime rates.