Egypt-Style ‘Kill Switch’ Still on the Table in U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As the news spread worldwide that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had shut down the country’s internet in an effort to quell protests against corruption, inflation and lack of free speech, it had many wondering if a similar shutdown could occur in the U.S. In a word? Maybe. As previously reported by AVN, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she planned to reintroduce legislation that would provide similar “kill switch” powers to the U.S. government, but that they would be used only for a “true cyber emergency.” Just last week, Collins—along with Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Tom Carper of Delaware—issued a joint statement defending the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010," which would allow for the creation of a cybersecurity center run by Department of Homeland Security. If approved, the bill would grant the government the authority to shut off all or part of the internet. Though the bill is unclear on what would constitute a “cyber emergency,” it does make one thing clear: The government’s decision to shut down the internet “shall not be subject to judicial review.” Of course, that’s only part of the reason the “kill switch” is opposed by the likes of the National Lawyers Guild to the more conservative Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. But in the statement, according to AOLNews.com, the senators wrote that, "We would never sign on to legislation that authorized the President, or anyone else, to shut down the Internet," adding that the shutdown authority only applies in "a precise and targeted way only to our most critical infrastructure—the networks and assets most essential to the functioning of society and the economy—to ensure they are protected from destruction."