ITU members resolve to end discriminatory access to the Internet

Photo by Blaise Alleyne, CC BY 2.0

WTSA-12 has adopted a Resolution inviting ITU Member States to refrain from taking any unilateral and/or discriminatory actions that could impede another Member State from accessing public Internet sites and using resources, within the spirit of Article 1 of the Constitution and the WSIS principles.

Noting the global and open nature of the Internet as a driving force in accelerating progress towards development in its various forms and that discrimination regarding access to the Internet could greatly affect developing countries; Resolution 69, “Non-discriminatory access and use of Internet resources,” invites affected ITU Member States to report to ITU on any unilateral and/or discriminatory actions that could impede another Member State from accessing public Internet sites and using resources, within the spirit of Article 1 of the Constitution and the WSIS principles.

The adoption of Resolution 69 underlines ITU’s commitment to a free and inclusive information society and sends a strong message to the international community in response to accusation that ITU’s membership wishes to restrict the freedom of speech.

ITU’s work, along with many others, has played a key role in enabling the Internet. Without ITU standards providing the access technologies to homes and businesses and the transport mechanisms to carry information from one side of the world to another, the broadband services that we have come to rely on would simply not work.

Also see ITU Press Release.