Obama has the power to shut off the internet - Who gave him this right?

Question

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1287695/Obama-given-right-shut-internet-kill-switch.html

"He would be able to order popular search engines such a Google and Yahoo to suspend access their websites in times of national emergency."

What is a national emergency in Obama's opinion?

Answer 1

"Who gave him this right?" - As of right now, nobody. As the article you linked to indicates, it is a proposed bill. If the bill passes both houses and is signed in to law the answer would be congress.

Answer 2

This major case in this area is called Youngstown v. Sawyer. Basically there are three types of powers that the President can have (other than those explicitly granted by the Constitution). 1) Those specifically granted to him by Congress, 2) those specifically denied to him by Congress, 3) those in the "twilight zone" (this is a complicated area of the law).



Congress can grant the President the power to shut down the internet because it is entitled to manage the flows of interstate commerce, a power that is, and was intended to be, extremely broad. The major cases in that area are United States v. Lopez, Gonzalez v. Raich, and United States v. Morrison.



Thus, if Congress passes the bill, the President constitutionally has the authority to shut down the internet. If they do not pass it, this will be considered as an implicit denial of presidential power in this area, and Obama will not be able to do it.



On the question of what constitutes a national emergency:

The US Constitution is one of the few in the world that does not grant "emergency powers." Thus, a national emergency would have to be defined by the actual bill in question. You would need to look to the wording of the bill to determine what constitutes a national emergency.

Answer 3

The Constitution allows Congress to regulate interstate commerce. That power was then delegated to the Executive through the FCC. The FCC has made great strides in their desire to implement rules to allow them control of the internet including broadband services in order to allow the government to shut down the ability of citizens to access information and, most importantly, news, in the event of a national emergency.



In a national crisis, the internet can get jammed. This happened somewhat on 9/11, when news sites had problems due to so many people trying to access info at the same time. Same thing happened with phone lines.



Personally, I have a problem with the government controlling the flow of information. That is what the government of China does in order to control its population. I do not care if a republican or democrat wants to do it, it is wrong and a step toward tyranny that should be opposed by everyone.

Answer 4

i do no longer purely like the assumption the two,yet you are able to't anticipate the courts to guard the individuals from the government any further. A Cyber emergency could be something real or imagined and with the government waiting to get right of entry to your suggestions without observe? Watch the Sandra Bullock action picture "the internet" and notice what can ensue. the international makes use of the internet,yet use China as an occasion: the government controls the internet there and that they close down and unacceptable web pages. the internet began interior the U.S. and branched out international. As I comprehend it,it is going to coach to all servers consisting of privately owned servers.

Answer 5

Did you read the article? It's a law that's being PROPOSED by Congress. The law has not been enacted yet, and may never be.



The president is the commander-in-chief, and in times of national emergencies, all presidents have the power to make executive orders. There is still a system of checks and balances, however. Terrorist attacks on 9/11 could be viewed as a national emergency, and the FAA stopped all air traffic in the country for several days. I don't think any president would make such a decision lightly, nor could they get away with it for long if it was for a bogus reason.

Answer 6

I would imagine it is the same people that said Bush could listen to your phone calls.

Answer 7

Al Gore invented the internet, just ask him.

Answer 8

To Obama, getting to his first cigarette in the morning is an emergency.

Answer 9

For this idiot.... it's when ANOTHER negative new story or poll number comes out proving that voters made a HUGE mistake by BLINDLY voting for "hope and change".