An unexpected new proposal for international regulation of the internet drew warnings over the weekend of a spread of online censorship and left a global conference on the issue on the edge of collapse.
The deep divisions over treatment of the internet came after Arab states put forward a plan on Friday that would require countries explicitly to regulate internet companies. The proposal, at a conference in Dubai to agree a new international telecoms treaty, has won the backing of Russia and China, along with a group of other countries.
The pitch for direct regulation was not welcomed by delegations from the US and elsewhere which have supported the current light system of regulation.