Cabinet critical over sanctions US against Italian internet service provider - NRC
Cabinet “critical” over sanctions US against Italian internet service provider - by Marloes de Koening for NRC
The Jetten cabinet is ‘critical’ of the decision of the US government to put the Italian internet service provider Autistici/Inventati (A/I) on the sanctions list. This is evident from answers to questions from parliamentarians from Pro and D66, who were sent to the House of Representatives today. This is the first time that a European government has responded to this sanction.
Minister Tom Berendsen (Foreign Affairs, CDA) and State Secretary Willemijn Aerdts (Economic Affairs, D66) call the American decision in their responses ‘not common’. “The government is critical of this because of the far-reaching consequences for persons and entities that we do not see as terrorists in the EU. The government understands the concerns of European internet providers about this decision and is in constant discussion with the United States.”
The U.S. added A/I to the list of terrorist organizations on August 26, as A/I’s digital infrastructure would be used by what the U.S. government sees as terror groups. These are specifically ‘antifa’ groups, the abbreviation for anti-fascist and a container concept.
In the answers to the parliamentary questions of Barbara Kathmann (Pro) and Sarah El Boujdaini (D66), the government is clearly seeking a balance between concern and the realization that the Netherlands is very dependent on American IT services. They ‘understand the concerns’ among European internet providers about the effect of the sanction, write Berendsen and Aerdts. “At the same time, the United States is a key ally and a major provider of IT systems for the government and vital sectors,” they continued. “The Cabinet is working to keep dependencies manageable.”
“Normally, providers are not liable for the third-party content at first instance, unless they know that the content is illegal,” the two ministers further explain. “This safe harbour principle remains important for the government. The government also advocates the preservation of the open, free, secure internet.”
“At the moment, there is no reason to believe that the decision on A/I has a direct impact on the neutrality of the underlying infrastructure of the Internet.”
The sanctions against A/I, which were forced to lift themselves, are relevant, among other things, because of the American attacks on the International Criminal Court in The Hague. U.S. sanctions have already been issued against a number of judges, and they have been announced against the institute as a whole; they will take effect in more than five months. However, there is an exception provision for providers of software cloud services and financial services.
When asked whether the government knows whether other organizations in the Netherlands are already suffering or are in danger of receiving US sanctions, the administrators only say that ‘the cabinet is in continuous discussion with the United States to prevent far-reaching measures regarding domain names, hosting and payment transactions’.
From: NRC