The “kill switch” has been approved in the House and now heads to the Senate. A Senate committee has already approved the bill and a vote on the floor is upcoming. This is an attempt to stop dissent. When politicians say it’s a good idea and China does it, so we must do it, you should worry about your country.

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which is being pushed hard by Senator Joe Lieberman, would hand absolute power to the federal government to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.

Despite the Center for Democracy and Technology and 23 other privacy and technology organizations sending letters to Lieberman and other backers of the bill expressing concerns that the legislation could be used to stifle free speech, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed in the bill in advance of a vote on the Senate floor.