West rejects UN telecom treaty

DUBAI – Envoys from nearly 90 nations signed Friday the first new UN telecommunications treaty since the Internet age, but the U.S. and other Western nations refused to join after claiming it endorses greater government control over cyberspace.

The head of the UN telecoms group pushed back against the American assertions, defending the accord as necessary to help expand online services to poorer nations and add more voices to shape the direction of modern communications technology.

Hamadoun Toure’s remarks highlighted the wide gaps and hard-fought positions during the past 10 days of global talks in Dubai.

The negotiations essentially pitted the West’s desire to preserve the unregulated nature of the Internet against developing countries’ yearning for better web access and strong-arm states such as Iran and China that closely filter cyberspace.

The final break late Thursday was not over specific regulations. Instead, it came down to an ideological split over the nature of the Internet and who is responsible for its growth and governance.

More than 20 countries joined the U.S. on Friday in refusing to sign the protocols by the UN’s International Telecommunications Union, or ITU, claiming it opens the door to greater government controls of the Internet and could be used by authoritarian states to justify further crackdowns on cyberspace.

Rival countries — including Iran, China and African states — insist the governments should have a greater sway over Internet affairs and seek to break a perceived Western grip on information technology.