Few events would threaten the future of freedom more than the shutdown of free speech on the internet. Could a curtain of ignorance once again descend as internet authorities shut down sites like VDARE.com under the guise of stopping hate speech? Yes, says Senator Ted Cruz. [ What Are the Concerns about Ending the U.S. Contractual Relationship with ICANN? , Heritage Foundation, July 7, 2016]

The actual mechanism by which this could work is incredibly complex—just listen to the panel of experts assembled by the Heritage Foundation. But basically, there is an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which controls the domain name system. [Internet Group ICANN Boosted Member Who Transferred U.S. Technology to Iran | Obama administration pushing to hand over control of internet to ICANN, ByAdam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, September 14, 2016]

At this time ICANN is under contract to and controlled by a US government agency: the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). But that contract has been scheduled to end on September 30, 2016 and there would be a transition to international control.

ICANN, in fact could well move offshore and no longer be under the jurisdiction of US law and the First Amendment. In that case, some observers, such as Senator Cruz, say we could end up with censorship of the internet—the kind of censorship which exists in so many countries—including European democracies.

There is not much time to prevent this from happening—and once internet freedom is lost it is unlikely to be regained.

“...unless Congress defunds the transition now in the continuing resolution or omnibus legislation for fiscal year 2016, as they did in the current fiscal year. Otherwise, there will be nothing to prevent the transition from occurring prior to the contract ending, or when it ends, now set for September 30, 2016.” Did NTIA notify Congress it unilaterally changed the IANA functions contract? By Robert Romano, NetRightDaily, August 26, 2015

But why would the Obama Administration or anyone want to give away American control of the American-created internet and possibly allow China, Russia, Iran —or even politically correct Europeans —to curtail freedom? Well, why would anyone want to give away the American-built Panama Canal—or place the interests of immigrants above those of the American people?

As in so many issues facing us—including the election of a President—it comes down to whether a person is willing to take a stand as a nationalist and place the interests of Americans first. It is enlightening to watch the famous 1978 debate between W.F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan on whether to give away the Panama Canal.

We see Reagan and Buchanan fighting for America versus Buckley and George Will trying to do what they claimed was right for Panamanians. Although Buckley and company claimed giving the Canal to Panama would increase security, it actually resulted in a Chinese company controlling the ports on both sides of the Canal. Patriots versus the globalist establishment—even back then the sides were already chosen.

Go to ConservativeHQ's Stop The Obama Internet Freedom Giveaway to see what you can do about it.