William Hague: 'It's in all our interests to ensure everyone can have safe and reliable access to cyberspace' guardian.co.uk

The UK has issued a direct challenge to China and Russia over regulation of the internet, with William Hague insisting that cyberspace must not be "stifled by government control or censorship".

In a strongly worded opening address to an international conference hosted in London, the foreign secretary told delegates that the internet "must remain open and not become ghettoised" – rebuffing the notion that new international treaties were needed to police online activity.

"Nothing would be more fatal or self-defeating than the heavy hand of state control on the internet, which only thrives because of the talent of individuals and of industry within an open market for ideas and innovation," he said.

Hague told delegates that cyberspace should not be "subject to separate rules and processes in different regions set by isolated national services, with state-imposed barriers to trade, commerce and the free flow of information and ideas".

This, he said, would be deeply counter-productive. Both China and Russia have pushed for new international treaties governing cyberspace. China has also been heavily criticised for censoring the internet by blocking news or comment that it deems damaging.

This summer, David Cameron appeared to blame social media for the spread of the London riots, raising the prospect that ministers may try to shut down sites such as Twitter during times of unrest.

Hague, though, said that it was his "passionate conviction that all human rights should carry full force online".

He added: "Not just the right to privacy, but the right to freedom of expression. Human rights are universal. Cultural differences are not an excuse to water down human rights … We reject the view that government suppression of the internet, phone networks and social media at times of unrest is acceptable."

The London Conference on Cyberspace was the brainchild of Hague, and delegates from more than 60 countries, as well as pioneers of the internet, such as the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, and the president of Facebook, Joanna Shields, among the speakers.

Cybercrime, the spread of damaging malware, and the use of cyber warfare by states have pushed questions about the rules governing the internet to the fore.

The conference is a first attempt to get all interested parties around the table to discuss potential ways forward, though it is not expected that anything binding will emerge during, or in the immediate aftermath, of the two-day meeting.

In his speech, Hague acknowledged that "many of the countries and representatives here will have very different views. But the reasons to co-operate are far more compelling than the issues that divide us".

He linked global prosperity to the expansion of the internet but warned of its dangers too.

Hague said online crime was "growing exponentially" and claimed that more than 6m unique types of new malware were detected by industry in the first three months of this year alone.

This activity was making it harder to protect people, and countries with weak cyber defences also made themselves vulnerable to state-sponsored attacks.

But Hague said the answer to these issues did not lie in repression.

He said Britain will "always be on the side of people aspiring for political and economic freedom, in the Middle East and around the world. In the place of today's cyber free-for-all, we need rules of the road".

Without them, a darker scenario could well prevail, he said.

Individuals, companies and states would all suffer.

Concluding the speech, he set out the varied problems the world was facing.

"Rising costs to business from cyber crime … companies being held to ransom by hacktivists, and the theft of intellectual property sapping prosperity and innovation.

"For individuals, a heightened risk of exposure to crime as efforts to clamp down on crimes such as child pornography in one part of the world are rendered ineffective by illegal practices on networks in other countries. Disruption in service due to state intrusion or crude censorship in some parts of the world, the general uncertainty, fear and loss of confidence in a compromised cyberspace.

"And for governments, threats to critical infrastructure, the loss of tax revenue or the defrauding of government services, the theft of confidential national information and vulnerability to attacks in cyberspace. If these scenarios come to pass, they will undermine the wider benefits of our networked world."