Washington, DC - Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski, Coordinator for Cyber Issues Chris Painter, and other U.S. government representatives traveled to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for the fifth annual conference of the Freedom Online Coalition.

The theme for the 2015 conference, the first to be held in Asia, was “Internet Policy Making – Best Practices for Promoting Online Freedom.” While in Mongolia, Assistant Secretary Malinowski and Coordinator Painter met with Coalition member states, civil society, and industry.

The United States, along with the Netherlands and eleven other countries, founded the Freedom Online Coalition at an inaugural conference in The Hague in December of 2011, where then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave keynote remarks. Since then, the Coalition has grown to twenty-six members and the annual conference has become the premier, global multilateral event focused on Internet freedom, providing an opportunity for Coalition members and stakeholders to discuss major issues of concern; showcase initiatives; and promoting the virtues of an open Internet.