Countries should govern their own Internet: Xi

Every nation should have independent authority over its own Internet, Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday, telling a government-organised conference that "freedom and order" are both necessary in cyberspace.

Rights campaigners have denounced the World Internet Conference as part of China's push to sell its idea of "Internet sovereignty", a concept at odds with a vision of the network as an open global resource.

"We should respect the rights of individual countries to govern their own cyberspace," Xi said in a half-hour speech opening the second forum, whose version last year was greeted with derision by activists who questioned China's motives.

"No country should pursue cyber hegemony or interfere in other countries' internal affairs," he added.

"Like in the real world, freedom and order are both necessary in cyberspace: freedom is what order is meant for, and order is the guarantee for freedom," Xi said.

"We should use moral teachings in guiding the use of the Internet," he added, adding that China's online presence should strive for a more positive and "uplifting" image.

China censors online content it deems to be politically sensitive, while blocking some Western websites and the services of Internet giants including Facebook, Twitter and Google.

The policy is one facet of Beijing's strict limits on freedom of expression. Rights groups say it uses state security as a pretext to crack down on political dissent.