Remarks of Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth at The Media Institute Communications Forum Luncheon Series

Remarks of Arielle Roth 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information  
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
 The Media Institute Communications Forum Luncheon Series
February 25, 2026

Good afternoon. 

Thank you to the Media Institute for inviting me to speak today, and especially to former Chairman Wiley, the “grandfather” of American communications law, whose work has shaped the technological and regulatory foundations that have expanded expressive opportunity across generations. I want to offer special thanks to the Media Institute’s recently departed leader, Rick Kaplar, who for more than four decades was a tireless champion of our constitutional freedoms of speech and of the press. 

I also want to congratulate my friend, former boss, and mentor Mike O’Rielly for his appointment as President and CEO. Throughout his career, he has been a steadfast defender of limited government, free markets, free speech, and the rule of law. I have no doubt he will bring that same clarity of principle and courage of conviction to his leadership of the Media Institute and I can think of no one better suited for this role. 

In the 250 years since our founding, technology has repeatedly transformed speech—from the printing press to radio, from the telegraph to the telephone, and from the television to the global internet. 

Every major advancement in communications technology has shifted who holds power over speech. In our current age, that increasingly means that whoever controls communications technology controls the boundaries of free expression. Today, that struggle plays out not only at the edge of the network but deep in the infrastructure layers—in spectrum policy, standards bodies, satellite governance, AI systems, and network architecture. 

That is also why communications policy—especially international communications policy—is now a central battleground for free speech. 

Built in America, the Internet Reflects Core American Principles 

The internet is the most powerful engine of free expression ever created. It amplifies individual voices, dismantles gatekeepers, enables journalists to expose corruption, and helps dissidents organize. 

That is no accident. The internet is what it is today because it was built in America under American legal traditions, powered by American ingenuity, and protected by the First Amendment. It rests on principles of openness, decentralization, and a private sector-led model that resists control by any single government or treaty regime. 

But freedom isn’t intrinsic to the internet’s infrastructure and protocols. 

It depends on the internet’s governance. And autocratic governments understand that if you want to control speech in the 21st century, you don’t just ban words or books. You regulate infrastructure, networks, platforms, standards, algorithms, and market access. 

The Assault on Americans’ Free Speech by Foreign Governments 

Around the world, we are seeing coordinated efforts—sometimes overt, sometimes subtle—to reassert state control over speech by controlling the infrastructure that carries it. 

China’s Great Firewall blocks independent media, surveils private communications, and forces companies to comply with state censorship as a condition of market access. 

In Iran, the government shut down the internet during protests to conceal violence and disrupt reporting. 

But some of today’s most significant threats often come from countries that claim to share our democratic values. They invoke “safety,” “combatting hate,” or “fair competition”—but the result is almost always greater government control over speech, with bureaucrats acting as arbiters of “truth.” 

In Europe, the Digital Services Act imposes sweeping regulatory regimes backed by crippling penalties that incentivize platforms to remove speech authorities deem “harmful” or “misinformation.” 

The UK’s Online Safety Act threatens severe fines—and even potential criminal liability for executives—if companies fail to police content under vague “safety” standards. 

Australia has a similar law that empowers a centralized regulator to issue takedown orders to global platforms. 

Canada has enacted online news and streaming laws that effectively force American companies to subsidize domestic media and comply with government-directed content mandates. 

And just this month, French authorities conducted a raid on X’s offices as part of an investigation tied to the company’s platform governance and algorithmic practices. 

Increasingly, these enforcement regimes function not only as compliance mandates but revenue streams, creating institutional incentives for regulatory expansion. As President Trump has noted, in 2024 the European Union collected more revenue from fines imposed on U.S. technology companies than from taxing all European public tech firms combined. 

One of the leading voices on these threats is Sarah Rogers, the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the State Department. As she and others in Congress have documented, these regulatory regimes do not stop at national borders. They are designed and function in practice to apply extraterritorially to any platform serving users within their territory, regardless of its headquarters.

Because the internet is global, platforms cannot realistically operate under dozens of conflicting speech codes. Faced with massive fines, market exclusion, or even executive liability, companies are pressured to adopt the most restrictive posture for everyone. The result is de facto export of foreign speech rules into the United States, and lawful political speech, satire, and commentary suppressed worldwide, including for Americans. 

The Trump Administration is defending free speech at home and abroad. In bilateral and multilateral engagements, we are making clear that we will not permit extraterritorial speech mandates and discriminatory enforcement against American firms to stifle how American citizens can express themselves around the world. We work in close collaboration with partners within Commerce, State, and our trade agencies to ensure that our policies reflect the bedrock of American identity: the freest of free expression. 

But defensive action alone is not enough. If we want to prevent this restrictive governance model from becoming embedded into the architecture of the next generation of networks, we must shape the technical standards and international institutions where that architecture takes shape. 

American Leadership Across the Full Internet Stack Is a Free Speech Imperative 

To understand why telecom policy is a free speech issue, you have to look at the stack. 

The internet is not a single platform, but a scaffolding, consisting of ISPs, undersea cables, data centers, cloud hosting, the domain name system, content delivery networks, wireless standards, satellite constellations, and increasingly, AI-driven network management. 

Whoever shapes those elements shapes the practical limits of speech. If authoritarian governments dominate standards-setting bodies, spectrum policy, satellite deployment, 6G, and AI, they can embed surveillance, censorship, and centralized control into the architecture of next-generation networks. 

This is why U.S. leadership in the technology that powers communications is not optional. It is a free speech imperative. 

One of the most critical things we are focused on at NTIA is increasing U.S. participation and leadership at standards-setting bodies. Organizations like 3GPP set the technical frameworks that will define next generation networks. I attended a 3GPP meeting last year, and it was very clear that if the United States is not present, engaged, and leading in these bodies, others will be—and the standards that emerge will reflect their priorities, not ours. We are working to bolster America’s presence at 3GPP to ensure technical specifications accommodate America’s leading role in international spectrum policy. 

Similarly, we must remain vigilant against efforts to transform the ITU into a centralized “internet regulator.” Certain member states have advanced proposals to convert the ITU’s mandate from technical coordination toward a broader regulatory or governance role over the internet, most recently at last December’s World Summit on the Information Society. This would shift decision-making authority from decentralized private sector innovators and engineers to a forum where many member states reject free expression as a governing principle. 

NTIA is showing up at international meetings, from Azerbaijan to China, to push back against mission creep and efforts by our adversaries to fundamentally change the character of the internet. That is also why leadership at the ITU matters—and why the U.S. supports the reelection of Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin to keep the ITU anchored in transparency and its core technical mission. 

We also must be proactive when it comes to next-generation networks. Ensuring the widespread adoption of a trusted 6G stack is foundational to achieving America’s vision of a free and decentralized internet—one built on secure and trusted architecture rather than state-directed models. That’s why we’re working with U.S. companies and other trusted partners and supporting innovations like AI-native RAN. 

To drive further development of U.S.-based AI-native RAN architecture, NTIA will launch a new Notice of Funding Opportunity in the coming months to explore how the U.S. can promote a domestic, exportable AI-native 6G stack using the Innovation Fund’s remaining $50 million. This initiative advances the Administration’s AI Action Plan and strengthens our effort to build and export a secure American AI technology stack. 

American leadership in 6G also means restoring American leadership in spectrum policy. In December, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum directing immediate action to advance the clearing of federal spectrum for 6G use and build support for American spectrum positions internationally. Toward that end, we are working around the clock with interagency partners to develop strong U.S. positions for the upcoming April meeting of the ITU Americas Region, CITEL. 

In addition to advancing key licensed spectrum positions at WRC 27, we will also stay vigilant in defending Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band. Unlicensed spectrum is a critical tool that allows entrepreneurs to deploy and test new applications in the marketplace. In this environment, innovation is driven by consumer demand, not top-down government mandates. As a quintessentially American technology, Wi-Fi has also facilitated free expression around the globe. Unsurprisingly, many of the same governments that seek to leverage the ITU to centralize control and suppress speech are also hostile to unlicensed applications like Wi-Fi. 

Finally, as 6G develops, the integration of terrestrial and satellite networks is expected to be a defining feature. That makes American leadership in commercial space non-negotiable. But satellite broadband is not just an area of American technological leadership—it is profoundly American in character. It breaks the grip of centralized regimes by bypassing terrestrial choke points. When authoritarian governments shut down networks or weaponize local infrastructure to silence speech, satellites can keep information flowing. 

That’s also why some foreign governments seek to block advances in satellite technology. Indeed, in some international bodies, Iran advocates denying the peaceful and lawful operation of satellite internet providers within its borders—explicitly to control the flow of information to its citizens. 

This dynamic is not limited to authoritarian regimes. The European Union's draft “Space Act,” now under negotiation, restricts the ability of American providers to compete in the EU space market, and hamstrings emerging services through burdensome regulation. Rather than creating new regulatory categories for a nascent category of the global economy, we invite our counterparts and friends in Europe to adopt the frontier spirit of space exploration and innovation that has served American firms and the world so well. 

The Trump Administration is unapologetically committed to promoting the leadership of U.S. satellite companies and fighting protectionist attempts to restrict their access to markets and spectrum. Through a recently announced partnership with the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute, NTIA is leading efforts to promote a free market for satellite connectivity, where all countries are on equal regulatory footing, and where access is governed by coordination, not political favoritism. 

To that end, NTIA will host trainings with developing countries in both Africa and Washington, D.C., this year to promote regulatory environments that enable satellite connectivity. These trainings will highlight the incredible benefits of satellite innovation, while directly implementing the 6G Presidential Memorandum, which prioritizes building a coalition of foreign partners that supports U.S. positions at WRC-27. Our goal is to prepare partners so that space governance remains focused on coordination and access—not bureaucratic expansion or rules designed to box out U.S. innovators. 

Much of this training will draw on lessons learned from our signature broadband program, BEAD, which demonstrates that technology-neutral rules and robust competition can deliver universal, high-speed connectivity at far lower cost than centralized mandates. 

After all, American space policy is not just about technological leadership, important as that is. It is also about connecting the most remote parts of the world and the most isolated individuals to the global exchange of information. 

That connectivity enriches lives across the globe—even as it unsettles governments that fear free expression. 

NTIA is Leading on Internet Freedom 

At NTIA, we understand that defending the First Amendment now requires defending the infrastructure that carries it. 

If we want an internet that remains a force for liberty rather than a tool of coercion, the United States must lead—technically, economically, and philosophically. 

The alternative is clear: fewer competitors, slower innovation, and greater state control over global communications. We are not going to let that happen. 

NTIA is working across the full internet stack to advance American technology leadership and resist foreign mission creep. 

That means leading in 6G and next generation wireless communications. 
Leading in satellite innovation. 
Leading in AI. 
And leading in international institutions—without surrendering sovereignty or free expression to unaccountable bureaucracies. 

The Trump Administration is committed to that leadership. 

We will defend American companies. 
We will challenge overreach. 
And we will ensure that the technologies shaping the future of communication carry forward the values that made America great.

Thank you.