Free access to the internet should be seen as human right, as people who cannot connect to the internet – particularly in developing countries – lack meaningful ways to influence the global players that shape their daily lives.
This is the general conclusion, a new study on the internet, carried out and published by Dr. Merten Reglitz, lecturer at the University of Burningham, in the Journal of Applied Philosophy.
According to the study “The Human Right to Free Internet Access”, engagements of political leaders are now increasingly taking place online (online), and thus basic freedoms that are taken for granted, such as free expression, freedom of information and freedom of assembly, are undermined if some citizens have access to the internet and others do not.
New research reveals that the internet could be an essential means of protecting other basic human rights, such as life, freedom and the prevention of torture.
In his comment Dr. Reglitz states:
“Internet access not a luxury, but on the contrary a moral human right and everyone should have unimpeded access and censorship, access to this global instrument. Should is provided free to those who cannot afford it.
Without such an approach, many people do not have a substantial way of influencing and holding supranational legislators and institutions accountable. "These people simply have no say in shaping the rules, which they must obey and which shape their lives."
Πρόσθεσε ότι η άσκηση της ελευθερίας του λόγου και η acquisition πληροφοριών ήταν πλέον εξαρτημένη από την πρόσβαση στο διαδίκτυο. Πολλές από τις σημερινές πολιτικές συζητήσεις διεξήχθησαν σε απευθείας σύνδεση και αρκετές information about politics shared online.
Dr.'s research Reglitz gives the Internet unprecedented opportunities to protect basic human rights, such as life, liberty and physical integrity. While acknowledging that the Internet does not guarantee these rights, it cites examples of participation by people who have helped the government and the institutions to take its opinion into account. These examples include:
- The "Arab Spring" and the new ways of global reference for government atrocities.
- Documenting unjustified police violence against African Americans in the US.
- On #MeToo campaign which helped to "prevent" the sexual harassment of women by powerful men.
The study demonstrates a number of important political institutions that are committed to providing universal access to their populations, convinced that this objective is accessible:
- The Indian state of Kerala has declared universal internet access as a human right and aims to provide it to 35 millions by 2019.
- The European Union has launched WiFi4EU initiative to provide “to every public centre κάθε ευρωπαϊκού χωριού και πόλης, δωρεάν ασύρματη πρόσβαση στο Internet μέχρι το 2020».
- Global access to the internet for developing countries is part of its Objectives UN Sustainable Development Goals (Sustainable Development of the United Nations).
Many people in poorer parts of the world still do not have access to the internet, but their numbers are falling as the technology becomes cheaper. However, the expansion of the internet has slowed in recent years, suggesting that universal access will not happen without a deliberate push.
The study adds that the human right to access the internet is similar to the universal right to health. Όμως, πολλά κράτη είναι πάρα πολύ φτωχά για να παρέχουν αυτές τις υπηρεσίες. Αντ ‘αυτού, καλούνται πρώτιστα να παράσχουν βασικές ιατρικές υπηρεσίες και να εργαστούν για την παροχή υψηλότερης ποιότητας παροχής υγειονομικής περίθαλψης. Τέτοια κράτη θα πρέπει αρχικά να προσφέρουν δημόσιους τόπους με πρόσβαση στο διαδίκτυο και να αναπτύξουν υποδομή information technologys (such as telephony) that will increase access.
Εμείς, στο SecNews, συνυπογράφουμε τα συμπεράσματα της μελέτης. Η τάση τους διαδικτύου είναι να υπερσκελίσει την τηλεόραση και τα έντυπα μέσα, όσο αναφορά τουλάχιστον τις ειδήσεις και τα πολιτικά γεγονότα.
The internet is a faster, more direct, and much larger means of communication than any international television channel. It can directly translate all political messages and events and, moreover, it can be hard to digest. In the coming years it is envisaged to become the main means of communication and information transfer.
Although it has many dark spots, like fake news, rest assured that it will dominate your life in a few years. So we think that yes, it must be characterized as one of the basic human rights. Free and free access must be ensured by all.
