Delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, that embraces private-sector autonomy on the Internet and opposes efforts to move Internet governance from the current model to the United Nations or other international organizations.

"The Internet has unleashed innovation, enabled growth, and inspired freedom more rapidly and extensively than any other technological advance in human history," the platform reads. "Its independence is its power. The Internet offers a communications system uniquely free from government intervention."

Republicans will also "ensure that personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach and that individuals retain the right to control the use of their data by third parties," the platform says. But new laws or regulations cannot accomplish those goals; instead "the only way to safeguard or improve these systems is through the private sector."

Several groups have been calling on both the Republicans and Democrats to support Internet freedom principles in their party platforms. The Democratic convention is next week.

Demand Progress, one of those groups, applauded the Republican platform. Lawmakers sticking to language in the document would have opposed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a bill that would have allowed U.S. agencies to force payment processors, search engines and other online businesses from doing business with websites suspected of copyright infringement, said David Segal, the group's executive director.