Rebecca MacKinnon

“Google transformed the way most of us get our information with a search engine that enables us to find citizen-created media content alongside the work of professionals.”

“Google attempted to run a search engine in China, and they ended up giving up.”

“In Britain, a 'block list' of harmful Web sites, used by all the major Internet Service Providers, is maintained by a private foundation with little transparency and no judicial or government oversight of the list.”

“Taiwan politics certainly is colorful.”

“It becomes dangerous for somebody who doesn't want their boss to know their sexual preference to use online networks to push for laws supporting gay marriage or same-sex partner rights if they can't do so with a pseudonym.”

“Only about 10 percent of India's population uses the web, making it unlikely that Internet freedom will be a decisive ballot-box issue anytime soon.”

“In modern politics, even the leader of the free world needs help from the sultan of Facebookistan.”

“Every news organization needs a social media strategy.”

“WikiLeaks published the Afghan War Logs and U.S. diplomatic cables stolen from a classified network by an Army private.”

“We willingly share personal information with companies for the convenience of using their products.”

“I know plenty of people in China who don't like what their government does to the Falun Gong, but they don't want to entrust their data to the Falun Gong, either.”

“The trend in China is toward tighter and tighter control. They are basically improving their censorship mechanisms.”

“For years, members of Congress have heard from constituents who want them to protect the nation from crime, terrorism and intellectual property violation. They have not faced equally robust demands that online rights and freedoms be preserved.”

“During the 1980s, when Japan's economy was roaring and people were writing books with titles like 'Japan is Number One,' most Japanese college students didn't make the effort to become fluent in English.”

“It is time to stop debating whether the Internet is an effective tool for political expression and instead to address the much more urgent question of how digital technology can be structured, governed, and used to maximize the good and minimize the evil.”

“When Google went into China, there were some people who said they shouldn't compromise at all - that it is very bad for human rights to do so. But there were other people, particularly Chinese people, who said they were glad Google had gone in.”

“It took a generation for companies to recognise their responsibilities in terms of labour practices and another generation for them to recognise their environmental obligations.”

“Microsoft runs the world's biggest blogging platform, MSN Spaces.”

“If multi-stakeholder Internet governance is to survive an endless series of challenges, its champions must commit to serving the interests and protecting the rights of all Internet users around the world, particularly those in developing countries where Internet use is growing fastest.”

“For centuries, the Yangtze River - the longest in Asia - has played an important role in China's history, culture, and economy. The Yangtze is as quintessentially Chinese as the Nile is Egyptian or the Rhine is German. Many businesses use its name.”