US Will Not Sign UN Internet Treaty

Worries about opening the door to online censorship

The United States said Thursday that it will not ratify a United Nations telecommunications treaty after raising concerns that it would disrupt the current governance structure of the Internet and open the door for online censorship.

The U.K. and Canada also said they would not ratify the treaty after negotiations ended at a conference hosted by the U.N. International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Dubai.

Technology trade groups representing Google, Facebook and Microsoft had sounded the alarm over a treaty resolution that would let the ITU play a more active role in future Internet policy discussions.