Internet Libre

Now that U.S. telecom companies seem poised to gain access to Cuba, the big question is whether those companies can help to change the island nation’s repressive Internet censorship regime. President Obama’s plan to allow U.S. telecoms to do business in Cuba is the right thing to do. Gaining access to the Internet and new communications technologies is a huge benefit for people living in restrictive regimes like Cuba and hold the promise of advancing freedom for millions of Cubans.

But overlooked in the understandably favorable news coverage of the White House plan has been Cuba’s troubling history of monitoring and censoring its citizens’ previously limited electronic communications. According to the OpenNet Initiative, Internet use in Cuba is severely restricted and extensively monitored. In 2006, Reporters Without Borders reported that the Cuban government used several mechanisms to prevent the Internet from being used for “counter-revolutionary” activities. Public computers were programmed to issue alerts when “subversive” keywords are entered, and citizen journalists received lengthy jail terms for publishing content criticizing the regime online. If more telecommunications access translates into more of that sort of repression and government spying, the benefit for the Cuban people may be outweighed by the consequences.

Reports indicate that Raul Castro has loosened restrictions as part of his program of economic reforms, but it will be important to know the extent of those changes before American companies wade into the Cuban market. U.S. telecom companies aren’t saying much about their plans for Cuba just yet, but when they do, it will behoove them — and their potential Cuban customers — to address this critical question head on. How will U.S. companies respond to Cuba’s demands to participate in repression of dissidents online? How will they handle orders to take down blogs or block content? And what— if anything— will be written into contracts that will obligate providers to comply? Now is the time to assess the human rights risks associated with doing business in Cuba and to take steps to ensure that companies do not find themselves in an untenable position later on.

This question needs to be on the radar at the State Department as well as the companies. Nothing would damage this important initiative more than a report that a U.S. telecom provider, under Cuban demand, had taken down political content or cooperated in the identification of an online dissident. If Cuba wants to build its communications infrastructure, the U.S. needs to set the terms. And the companies should also think about joining the Global Network Initiative, now, before they sign agreements or take actions that they may come to regret. The GNI is a multi-stakeholder initiative intended to help Internet and telecommunications companies chart an ethical path through the challenges posed by doing business in places with questionable commitments to free expression. The U.S. telecoms have been invited in. Now would be a good time for them to commit.