Internet search services provider Google, Inc., US, has condemned restrictions on the Internet by China, Vietnam and other countries. It has termed them the 'trade barriers of the 21st century' and made a case for new trade rules and talks.
In a policy paper issued by Google, the company has said that trade officials and policymakers should be deeply concerned about the impact of Internet information restrictions on economic growth and trade interests.
Google, which was involved in a spat with China this year over censorship and cyber-attacks, said that more than 40 governments now engage in broad-scale restriction of online information, a tenfold increase from just a decade ago.
Further, the company said that the transformative economic benefits of the Internet are under threat, as increasing numbers of governments move to impose onerous limits on information flow. Today more governments are incorporating surveillance tools into their Internet infrastructure; blocking online services in their entirety; imposing new, secretive regulations; and requiring onerous licensing regimes that often discriminate against foreign companies, it said.
Google further said governments should honor WTO obligations and develop new international rules that provide enhanced protection against these trade barriers of the 21st century.
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