A Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands today announced plans to introduce legislation later this week modeled on U.S. Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) Global Online Freedom Act (HR 275).

    Smith said both pieces of legislation were, “a historic partnering, the quintessential example of transatlantic cooperation” and are “absolutely necessary to end—or at least mitigate—the complicity of high tech Internet companies with dictatorships like China.”

    During the media event, hosted by leading human rights organization Freedom House, EU MP Jules Maaten, the sponsor of the EU version of the Global Online Freedom Act, called the parallel legislative initiative “a collaborative effort to increase Internet freedom.”

    Specifically, both bills would promote online freedom by prohibiting Internet companies from cooperating with repressive regimes that restrict Internet freedom and use personally identifiable information to track down and punish democracy activists.