And then there were two: A second elected official has signed the Declaration of Internet Freedom.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Wyden is best known in Internet rights circles as being a frequent partner of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the first member of Congress to sign the document. The pair had previously called for the creation of an Internet rights bill, much like the Declaration.
Prior to that, the two campaigned together against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a controversial piece of legislation that critics claimed would hamper free speech on the Internet.
The declaration is a simple document, highlighting five points about the Internet. Each is written in manner that’s difficult to disagree with for any netizen. For example, “don’t censor the Internet.”
Wyden’s signature came with little fanfare. His official Twitter account tweeted, “I signed the Internet Declaration of Freedom- have you?”
While Wyden is the first member of the Senate to sign the document, he’s in remarkable company. Swaths of companies and Internet luminaries, ranging from Fark to “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf have signed the document, as have nearly 50,000 individual citizens.
When asked for comment, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, who helped draft the declaration, responded by tweeting the celebratory “o/” emoticon.
Photo via @RonWyden
