In September, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas charged the Democratic president with handing off control of the internet to an unaccountable international body.
Our look into Cruz’s specific claim–that the “Obama administration intends to give away control of the internet to an international body akin to the United Nations”–turned out to be our No. 4 most-clicked fact check from the year.
We found that as of October, the U.S. government was set to no longer have a contract to oversee certain internet-related duties having to do with computer or phone users finding websites.
Yet the tasks would continue to be handled through a California nonprofit that’s been in place since 1998. That is, there was no pending government handoff of control of the internet. Also, the member-countries of an advisory panel to the nonprofit’s board is allowed to make a recommendation only if every nation agrees; that’s not U.N.-like.
We rated what Cruz said FALSE.