The "special relationship" comes to the Googleplex
May 27th, 2008 | Published in Google Public Policy
Last Thursday Google was honored to host the top diplomats from both halves of the transatlantic "special relationship": U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. Both confront on a daily basis some of the most difficult policy issues facing the world, with their recent itineraries taking them to Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and beyond. Coming to the Googleplex for a tour and another edition of our Policy Talk series was a comparatively easy challenge, despite the probing questions from David Drummond, our Senior VP for Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, and the gathered Googlers during an hour-long discussion.
Among other topics, Secretaries Rice and Miliband discussed Internet censorship and the role that governments can play in protecting human rights online -- the subject of our recent testimony before Congress. Secretary Rice, who in 2006 formed the State Department's Global Internet Freedom Task Force, argued that "the Internet is possibly one of the greatest tools for democratization and individual freedom that we've ever seen." Both she and Secretary Miliband expressed concern over Internet censorship and the efforts of some governments around the world to block or regulate content.
Throughout the course of their talk, Secretaries Rice and Miliband also discussed globalization and competition, the Iraq war, the image of the U.S. in the world, the environment, and other issues. You can hear their views for yourself on YouTube: