Foreign Minister Uriel Rosenthal today said Dutch Government will step up its efforts to help voices online in repressive environments around the globe.
“We will provide funding for mesh networks to those who cannot access the internet when communication infrastructures are going down.” -Mr. Rosenthal
He said on 2012, the United States will join the Dutch Government on the effort for global access of internet.
He noted that Dutch Government has contributed 1 million euros to these and other initiatives.
“And from 2012 to 2015, we are allocating almost 5 million euros from our human rights fund to freedom online. And we will continue to raise the issue of internet freedom bilaterally and multilaterally, and also under the co-guidance of the United States.” -Mr. Rosenthal
He stressed that nowadays, it’s also an online battle not just offline, but online. He said freedom of speech online surely is as crucial as that freedom offline.
