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.