France and giant US technology companies, including Microsoft, have called on governments and companies Monday to sign a new initiative to regulate the Internet and fight threats such as cyber attacks, Internet censorship and hate speech.
By issuing the Paris Declaration of Confidence and Security in Cyberspace, French President Emmanuel Macaron hopes to revive the efforts to regulate the Internet after the failure of the last round of UN negotiations in 2017.
The document has won the support of many European countries, but has not been supported by China or Russia, and urges governments to strengthen protection from online election interference and prevent the theft of trade secrets.
Technology companies initially pushed the Paris Call initiative, but French officials rephrased it to include work done by UN experts in recent years.
"Now that half of humanity is connected to the Internet, we need to find new ways to organize the Web," said an official at Macron's office.
"Otherwise, the Internet as we know it today, free, open and safe, will be affected by new threats."
With the launch of the initiative, a day after the weekend ceremony marking the centennial of the end of the First World War, Macaron hopes to promote his efforts to increase global cooperation in the face of rising nationalism.
In reference to the reluctance of the administration of US President Donald Trump to join international initiatives, which it sees as an attempt to encroach on US sovereignty, French officials said that Washington may not sign the initiative, but talks are continuing.
But they said major US technology companies, including Facebook and Alpha, would sign.
