Just over a year ago, and again this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a global commitment to Internet freedom. Given the importance of the Internet to the recent expressions of freedom in Tunisia and Egypt, the Secretary’s decision to highlight the “freedom to connect” − applying the universal freedoms of assembly, expression, religion and association to cyberspace − could not have been more timely. By preserving these rights in the digital era, we preserve the Internet as a platform for ideas, innovation, connection, and economic growth. And upon this digital platform, we are once again reminded of Voltaire’s practical insight that while “all citizens of a state cannot be equally powerful, they all may be equally free”.

It was regrettable, but not surprising, that those nations aligned against expanded democratic choice and participation chose to shut down the Internet. President Obama and Secretary Clinton promptly objected, and as the service revived, so did the spirit of the people. In recent meetings at the White House and State Department, it was a genuine honour for me to point out the many ways in which the Government of Malta gives recognition to free access to the Internet. Domestically, Malta’s focus has not only been training programmes for young people, but also for folks like me who are an older, sometimes technologically-challenged, generation. Today, Malta boasts over 120,000 Internet subscriptions. As Malta defines its Mediterranean vocation, as Guido de Marco used to put it, whether multilaterally in the 5 + 5 or bilaterally, pressing for unfettered internet access should be a key component of Malta’s growing engagement with its Mediterranean neighbours, just as Secretary Clinton made clear it will be in US government relations around the world.

The Internet is the 21st century town square. The kind of peaceful civic activism we have seen in Tahrir Square or in Tunis over the course of the past weeks were planned via the Internet. People around the world come together every day on the Internet to connect to one another, sample a universe of news and information, or make their voices heard. While not everything written on the net is true, truth is more, not less, likely to emerge from online debates and discourse. Marginal views anchored in radical, violent fundamentalism paternalistic ideologies effacing half the population based on gender, or materialistic conceptions of the human person solely as an economic actor are less likely to command sustained attention in this robust medium of ideas.

All exercises of human freedom, including those on the Internet, pose counterbalancing questions of responsibility. How do we protect: liberty and security? Transparency and confidentiality? Freedom of expression or of religious belief or practice while fostering tolerance and harmony? These are age-old questions, but they are more profound with the Internet by virtue of its worldwide scope and speed. Internet messages sent in bulk often have individual effect. The tears shed by the Google consultant for those innocents who died as a collateral consequence of reform protest accentuates the weight of a well-formed conscience, and here are a few considerations:

First, too often liberty and security are seen as mutually exclusive, but we must have both to have either, both online and offline. We must have enough security to enable our freedoms, but not so much as to endanger them. In the balance between liberty and security, the fulcrum is the rule of law. Our allegiance to it does not vanish in cyberspace. Neither does our commitment to civil liberties. The United States is equally determined to track and stop terrorists and criminal activity online and offline. In both spheres, we must pursue this goal in accordance with universal values. It is as wrong to compromise those values in the name of “national security” as it is to arrest and harass bloggers.

Second, we must protect both transparency and confidentiality. Transparency is critical. We can and should give citizens information about their governments and new commercial opportunities. But some level of confidentiality is needed for government and business. It is equally ludicrous to publish the modern strategies for countering sea pirates as it is to disclose trade secrets that provide a legally protected competitive advantage.

Third, we must seek to protect free expression while at the same time fostering tolerance. Just like a town square, the Internet is home to every kind of speech: false, offensive, constructive and innovative. With an online population of more than two billion people that is rapidly growing, the varied nature of speech online will only proliferate. It is up to us in our families, schools, churches, synagogues and mosques to advance tolerance and peace. How? As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights implies, by promoting more speech, not less; exposing and challenging offensive speech allows for public scrutiny and response.

Through Internet freedom, we have the rare opportunity to bind human rights to our aspirations for mutual economic prosperity. The principles of Internet freedom are rooted in the openness of the platform. In this way, the Internet will remain an engine of ideas, innovation, and economic growth while at the same time opening markets for new products and services and catalysing entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment. We have seen investment and innovation in the global Internet marketplace flow to those nations that seek to make openness the hallmark of their Internet policy.

Malta’s neighbours in North Africa and the Middle East comprise some of the oldest civilizations in the world, but by deploying modern means, some of its youngest citizens have reaffirmed the timeless lesson that when free to choose, men and women choose freedom.

Mr Kmiec is US Ambassador to Malta