The Internet a Human Right?

[Teddy]

Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests.

The survey - of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries - found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide.

Countries such as Finland and Estonia have already ruled that access is a human right for their citizens.

International bodies such as the UN are also pushing for universal net access.

"The right to communicate cannot be ignored," Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told BBC News.

"The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created."

He said that governments must "regard the internet as basic infrastructure - just like roads, waste and water".

"We have entered the knowledge society and everyone must have access to participate."

The EU is also committed to providing universal access to broadband. However, like many areas around the world the region is grappling with how to deliver high-speed net access to rural areas where the market is reluctant to go.

Analysts say that is a problem many countries will increasingly have to deal with as citizens demand access to the net.

The BBC survey found that 87% of internet users felt internet access should be the "fundamental right of all people".

More than 70% of non-users felt that they should have access to the net.

Overall, almost 79% of those questioned said they either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the description of the internet as a fundamental right - whether they currently had access or not.

Free speech

Countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Turkey most strongly support the idea of net access as a right, the survey found.

More than 90% of those surveyed in Turkey, for example, stated that internet access is a fundamental right - more than those in any other European Country.

Campaign group page on Facebook

Facebook has become a lightning rod for causes of all types

South Korea - the most wired country on Earth - had the greatest majority of people (96%) who believed that net access was a fundamental right. Nearly all of the country's citizens already enjoy high-speed net access.

The survey also revealed that the internet is rapidly becoming a vital part of many people's lives in a diverse range of nations.

In Japan, Mexico and Russia around three-quarters of respondents said they could not cope without it.

Most of those questioned also said that they believed the web had a positive impact, with nearly four in five saying it had brought them greater freedom.

However, many web users also expressed concerns. The dangers of fraud, the ease of access to violent and explicit content and worries over privacy were the most concerning aspects for those questioned.

A majority of users in Japan, South Korea and Germany felt that they could not express their opinions safely online, although in Nigeria, India and Ghana there was much more confidence about speaking out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8548190.stm

Any thoughts?

[pandorea]

Any thoughts?

Not really but the article made me google for "fundamental rights" : here are what they called "fundamental rights"

According to Uncel Sam :

Right to keep and bear arms

Right to freedom of movement within the country

Right to property

Right to marry the person of any race

Right to procreate irrespective of marital status or other classifications

Right to freedom of association

Right to freedom of speech

Right to equal protection under the law

Right to freedom of thought

Right to vote in general election

Right to freedom of contract by parties with proportional bargaining power

Right to privacy

Right to direct a child's upbringing

-------------------

[Hobbes]

Sorry, it sure is a dandy thing to have and all but not having access to the internet isn't going to impede on my quality of life (it surely may be annoying or even be liberating...who is to say :? ).

[Sukhumvit_Farang]

Even if it would be something that we couldn't live without, if you think that having access to the internet is a fundamental human right, then you don't understand the concept of human rights. If internet access is a human right, why didn't humans claim this right, say, a thousand - or even a hundred years ago?

[drlovelife8]

Hardly a human right!!

With all the **** going on in this world can't they think of something a bit more important to make 'a right'..... Access to clean drinking water, anti-retro-viral drugs, women's right to vote and work in certain countries. The list could well be endless.

There could well be a 'process' behind this... Who is going to profit the most???

Only the most powerful companies in the world....... mmmmmmm, I suspect a motive which is not being made public.

Does this mean it is a human right to dl porn......... MMMMMMM, yes ok, internet access is a human right.

[eagle]

Internet is modern technology. The free access to information is a wonderful thing and should be a human right to protect us from those who are screwing us all now and will always be trying to enslave man for personal greed.

[Stramash]

Hardly a human right!!

With all the sh*t going on in this world can't they think of something a bit more important to make 'a right'..... Access to clean drinking water, anti-retro-viral drugs, women's right to vote and work in certain countries. The list could well be endless.

There could well be a 'process' behind this... Who is going to profit the most???

Only the most powerful companies in the world....... mmmmmmm, I suspect a motive which is not being made public.

Does this mean it is a human right to dl porn......... MMMMMMM, yes ok, internet access is a human right.

other than that last line, perhaps the most sensible thing you have ever said on TF.

Utter bollocks; today it is nowhere near being a human right, not when millions are HIV positive with no access to medication, when children are starving, when people are fleeing ethnic, religious and political based violence, when people are afraid to speak out for fear of 'disappearing' etc etc etc

Let's sort out the REAL human rights before we worry about download speeds...

[Teddy]

Right to keep and bear arms

Imagine the right to arm bears......creepy.

[DANNO]

Right to keep and bear arms

Imagine the right to arm bears......creepy.

I bare arms whenever the weather allows...

and finally it looks like Spring ( about damn time too....grrrrr)

[PeeMarc]

I saw'heard a talk a while ago by the ex-editor of Wired Magazine. He was discussing the 1st 5000 days of the internet and what had happened and proposing what the next 5000 days would bring. One of the most interesting things was the view of the net/web with all its connection points... rather like a brain with all its neurotransmitters etc.

At 5000 days old the internet had (roughly) the same amount of connection points around the globe as 1 single brain has neurotransmitter connections. At the current rate of increase, it is estimated that by the end of the next 5000 days, the net will have as many connections as all the brains of the human race.

For the first time in human history, we have built a 'machine' that has never (to date) broken down (and not likely to) and is exponentially growing and feeding itself beyond anyone control.

[Bruce551]

A problem arises when "the privileged few" have broadband and many "others" don't have broadband. All of sudden you have star children and cave men, a divided society that has trouble communicating with each other.

[drlovelife8]

Hardly a human right!!

With all the sh*t going on in this world can't they think of something a bit more important to make 'a right'..... Access to clean drinking water, anti-retro-viral drugs, women's right to vote and work in certain countries. The list could well be endless.

There could well be a 'process' behind this... Who is going to profit the most???

Only the most powerful companies in the world....... mmmmmmm, I suspect a motive which is not being made public.

Does this mean it is a human right to dl porn......... MMMMMMM, yes ok, internet access is a human right.

other than that last line, perhaps the most sensible thing you have ever said on TF.

Utter bollocks; today it is nowhere near being a human right, not when millions are HIV positive with no access to medication, when children are starving, when people are fleeing ethnic, religious and political based violence, when people are afraid to speak out for fear of 'disappearing' etc etc etc

Let's sort out the REAL human rights before we worry about download speeds...

I have my moments. I think it is like saying a mobile phone is a human right. Surely condoms should be.... but not enough profit.... Water, not enough profit................... bill gates will save us all, he is our human right and the hiltons and warren buffet

[kaunitz]

The right to communicate - YES!

The right how to communicate - NO!

In our days, people are too much concerned about their rights and "rights" rather than about the necessities of how a community would function, which also means obligations - a thing very often "forgotten" by a lot of people.

[eagle]

You only get human rights if you fight for them, i mean You should have access to water but if someone wants to stop you you get none....