Obama Quietly Gives Himself Power to Seize Internet

Another late-Friday afternoon release from the White House — this one on how agencies should communicate with the public in emergencies — has Internet privacy advocates crying foul over a possible power grab.

The executive order — “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions” — was released last Friday in the late afternoon. The Friday before, the White House issued data showing that its payroll had increased 14.1 percent over the last year of the Bush administration.

President Barack Obama’s new order outlines procedures for government agencies to follow in preparing plans so they can communicate with “the public, allies, and other nations” should a national crisis occur, CNBC reports.

“This Order is about communications resilience — the Administration’s goal is to maintain this connected environment during the worst disasters, even in circumstances when our adversaries may wish to deprive us of their use,” the email said.

But that did not satisfy everyone. The Daily Caller that the federal government already has its own emergency communications network, the National Communications System, which allows members of the federal government to make use of private carriers during the event of a disaster.

And the blog ExtremeTech asked, "If there’s a possible terrorist threat, is that grounds for locking down the US cellular carriers? If Iran attacks the US with a Stuxnet-like virus, is that grounds for the disabling of core internet routers?"