WASHINGTON, May 31: US officials, lawmakers and technology leaders voiced firm opposition on Thursday to efforts to bring the Internet under UN control, saying it could hurt free expression and commerce.

At a congressional hearing, the comments were united in opposition to place the Internet under the jurisdiction of the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency which governs telecom systems.

“There's a strong, bipartisan consensus within the (US) administration and Congress that we must resist efforts from some countries to impose a top-down governance of the Internet,” Representative Henry Waxman told the hearing.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui added that “any international authority over the Internet is troublesome, particularly if that effort is being led by countries where censorship is the norm”.

A top State Department official, in prepared remarks, reaffirmed the opposition of the Obama administration to UN governance of the Internet.

“In all bilateral encounters and multilateral meetings, the United States consistently opposes the extension of intergovernmental controls over the Internet,” said Philip Verveer, deputy assistant secretary of state and coordinator for IT policy, saying this would lead to “very bad outcomes”.

“It inevitably would diminish the dynamism of the Internet,” he said.

Verveer told lawmakers that UN control would possibly “aid in censorship and repression” in some countries.

The comments come ahead of a meeting in December of the ITU where some nations will be pressing for the agency to formally govern the Internet.

Some nations, including Russia and China, say the Internet is still controlled by the United States and that a UN effort would give a greater voice to the developing world.

But many in the US fear a UN-governed Internet would give authoritarian nations the power to throttle free speech, and allow others to impose tariff or other restrictions.—AFP