By Deborah Solomon

Sen. Joseph Lieberman rejected as “misinformation” concerns raised by critics that he would want the U.S. to be able to shut down the Internet, but stressed that in “times of war” the U.S. needed more power over U.S. cyberspace.

Lieberman (I., Conn.) is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate last week that would give the president authority to implement “short-term emergency measures” to protect U.S. Internet networks from attack.

Critics, including bloggers, some privacy advocates and some technology executives, have lashed out at the bill, saying it would essentially give the president a “kill switch” to shut down the Internet.

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday whether he was trying to “seize control or shut down” the Internet, Lieberman answered “no way” and added that “the government should never take over the Internet.”

Lieberman said the Internet was “constantly being probed by other countries for weaknesses and that “we need the capacity for the president to say to an Internet service provider, ‘We’ve got to disconnect the American Internet from all traffic coming in from this country.’”

He cited China, which has long been criticized for its Internet censorship, as an example. “Right now, China can disconnect parts of its Internet in times of war. We need to be able to do that too.”

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