“Internet Freedom”: A Short Reading List

Following up on Eli’s earlier post (“Does CDT believe in Internet freedom?”), I thought I’d just point out that we’ve spent a great deal of time here through the years defending real Internet freedom, which is properly defined as “freedom from state action; not freedom for the State to reorder our affairs to supposedly make certain people or groups better off or to improve some amorphous ‘public interest.'” All too often these days, “Internet freedom,” like the term “freedom” more generally, is defined as a set of positive rights/entitlements complete with corresponding obligations on government to delivery the goods and tax/regulate comprehensively to accomplish it.  Using “freedom” in that way represents a grotesque corruption of language and one that defenders of human liberty must resist with all our energy.

I’ll be writing more about this in upcoming columns, but here’s a short list of past posts on Internet freedom, properly defined:

• The Problem with the “Declaration of Internet Freedom” & the “Digital Bill of Rights” – by Adam Thierer (July 2, 2012)
• A Note to Congress: The United Nations Isn’t a Serious Threat to Internet Freedom—but You Are – by Jerry Brito & Adam Thierer (The Atlantic, June 19, 2012)
• Does the Internet Need a Global Regulator? – by Adam Thierer (Forbes, May 6, 2012)
• More Confusion about Internet “Freedom” – by Adam Thierer (Mar. 1, 2011)
• Internet Freedom–Real vs Imagined – by Adam Thierer (Dec. 12, 2007)
• A Response to Andrew McLaughlin on Net Neutrality & “Freedom” – by Adam Thierer (July 9, 2011)
• Web 2.0, Section 230, and Nozick’s “Utopia of Utopias” – by Adam Thierer (Jan. 13, 2009)
• Cyber-Libertarianism: The Case for Real Internet Freedom – by Adam Thierer & Berin Szoka (Aug. 12, 2009)
• Broadband as a Human Right (and a short list of other things I am entitled to on your dime) – by Adam Thierer (Oct. 14, 2009)
• “Internet Freedom”: How Statists Corrupt Our Language – by Berin Szoka (Oct. 27, 2009)

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