Google backs move to spread internet to Iran, Cuba, Sudan (Roundup)

Mar 9, 2010, 11:18 GMT

Geneva - An executive at internet giant Google said Tuesday that Washington's latest move to encourage service providers to expand their work into Iran, Cuba and Sudan was a 'great accomplishment.'

'Hopefully it will help ... activities all over the world take a small step in what is certainly a long road ahead,' said Robert Boorstin, an official in Google's communications division.

He was speaking at a human rights forum in Geneva.

Boorstin said that internet freedoms were under threat, both in Western democracies and in countries with fewer liberties, but in different ways.

He cited China and Italy as countries that have recently taken steps against online rights.

'Google was strangled by the Chinese regime,' the executive alleged, saying his company refused to censor searches to the extent done by Baidu, its local competitor in the world's most populous country.

The US company said in January it might pull out of China, owing to attacks on its servers. Google opened its Chinese site in 2006.

In Italy, Google bosses were recently convicted of privacy violations, after videos were posted to websites. Company officials insisted they did not control what users uploaded and the content was removed once complaints were received.

The US Treasury Department said Monday it was easing restrictions on US companies that export internet services and software to Iran, Cuba and Sudan, long-time foes of Washington.

The administration hopes that access to web-based communications will foster more open societies.

However, Boorstin warned that 'internet freedom does not bring about real freedom and what happens online does not necessarily happen offline.'

Companies like Microsoft, Google and Yahoo are expected to gain from the move, having been stifled by strict export controls.

However, executives have questioned how deeply they will be able to penetrate markets where the internet remains under tight government restrictions and supervision.