In most countries, those who use the Internet to participate in their countries' political processes take for granted that they may use the Internet to engage openly in political discussions and to organize politically oriented activities. In some countries activists are in danger any time they access or even attempt to access a prohibited website or service or promote political dissent. Governments everywhere need the Internet for economic growth and technological development. Some also seek to restrict the Internet in order to maintain social, political, or economic control. Others believe that technology can offer a complementary (and, in some cases, better) solution to prevent government censorship than mandates imposed on companies. Hardware, software, and Internet services, in and of themselves, are neutral elements of the Internet; it is how they are implemented by various countries that makes them "repressive." Department of State

Since 2011, the State Department has worked to "protect and defend a free and open Internet" as an element of its policy supporting universal rights of freedom of expression and the free flow of information. The Task Force oversees U.S. efforts in more than 40 countries to help individuals circumvent politically motivated censorship by developing new tools and providing the training needed to safely access the Internet; Make Internet freedom an issue at the United Nations and the U.N. Human Rights Council in order to enlist world opinion and support for Internet freedom; Work with new partners in industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations to establish a standing effort to advance the power of "connection technologies" that will empower citizens and leverage U.S. traditional diplomacy; Provide new, competitive grants for ideas and applications that help break down communications barriers, overcome illiteracy, and connect people to servers and information they need; Urge and work with U.S. media companies to take a proactive role in challenging foreign governments' demands for censorship and surveillance; and Encourage the voluntary work of the communications-oriented, private sector-led Global Network Initiative (GNI). The Task Force supports Internet freedom by
monitoring Internet freedom, and reporting in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices the quality of Internet freedom around the world; responding in both bilateral and international forums to support Internet freedom; and expanding access to the Internet with greater technical and financial support for increasing availability of the Internet in the developing world. However, some anonymous technologies require users to download software and can be easily blocked by authorities.
Modern communication tools such as the Internet provide a relatively inexpensive, accessible, easy-entry means of sharing ideas, information, and pictures around the world. In a political and human rights context, in closed societies when the more established, formal news media is denied access to or does not report on specified news events, the Internet has become an alternative source of media, and sometimes a means to organize politically.
The openness and the freedom of expression allowed through social networking sites, as well as the blogs, video sharing sites, and other tools of today's communications technology, have proven to be an unprecedented and often disruptive force in some closed societies. Governments that seek to maintain their authority and control the ideas and information their citizens receive are often caught in a dilemma: they feel that they need access to the Internet to participate in commerce in the global market and for economic growth and technological development, but fear that allowing open access to the Internet potentially weakens their control over their citizens.
Internet freedom can be promoted in two ways, through legislation that mandates or prohibits certain activities, or through industry self-regulation. Past legislation has been aimed at prohibiting or requiring the reporting of the sale of Internet technologies and provision of Internet services to "Internet-restricting countries" (as determined by the State Department). Some believe, however, that technology can offer a complementary and, in some cases, better and more easily implemented solution to ensuring Internet freedom. They argue that hardware and Internet services, in and of themselves, are neutral elements of the Internet; it is how they are implemented by various countries that may be repressive. Also, Internet services are often tailored for deployment to specific countries; however, such tailoring is generally done to bring the company in line with the laws of that country, not with the intention of allowing the country to repress and censor its citizenry. In many cases, that tailoring would not raise many questions about free speech and political repression.