Fact Checker: Cruz's Claim That ICANN's Transition Will Empower Foes to Censor the Internet

Posted September 21, 2016

External Article: The Washington Post

Milton Mueller, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in "Cruz's Claim That ICANN's Transition Will Empower Foes to Censor the Internet" by The Washington Post.

Excerpt:

ICANN says it is only a technical administrator that does not regulate content on the Internet, and that Cruz is claiming it has power that does not exist. “The U.S. government has never, and has never had the ability to, set the direction of the community’s policy development work based on First Amendment ideas,” the statement said. “Yet that is exactly what Senator Cruz is suggesting. The U.S. government has no decreased role. Other governments have no increased role. There is simply no change to governmental involvement in policy development work in ICANN.”

Experts who favor the ICANN transition are scornful of Cruz’s assertions, saying they are a mash of misinformation and falsehoods. “Simply ending U.S. approval of root zone file changes does not alter the policymaking process in ways that increase the influence of foreign governments or global corporations. In some respects, the reforms associated with the transition reduce the power of GAC by requiring it to have consensus before it can offer advice,” said Milton Mueller, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy and author of a book on ICANN.

For the full article, read here.