David Rothkopf, editor for Foreign Policy magazine poses a new and challenging question for us as a society in his article titled: Is Unrestricted Internet Access a Modern Human Right?
Anyone familiar with my blog will come to know that I value the Internet as an extremely formative force of our modern society. It shapes the way we communicate, play, work, and everything in between. Based on this axiom I think that Rothkopf makes a number of striking points as to why Internet access should be a human right.
Anyone familiar with my blog will come to know that I value the Internet as an extremely formative force of our modern society. It shapes the way we communicate, play, work, and everything in between. Based on this axiom I think that Rothkopf makes a number of striking points as to why Internet access should be a human right.
To me it seems that people perceive the Internet as a luxury. But as luxurious as it sounds there are already billions of people online today with an increasingly larger number of people logging in for the first time with each passing year. There honestly isn't a single day where I don't use the Internet in some way or another and at this point in my life it is essentially a need for me to live.
For instance, in his article Rothkopf observes how mobile banking has become exceedingly common, thus diminishing the number of times that transactions require the physical passing of money. Every time I swipe my debit card at a restaurant I make a transaction without even realizing it. As such, the Internet has quite literally de-materialized money.
Actualizing universal Internet access as a goal though is as tricky as one would think. For one, it requires a source of electricity which begs the question that affordable, accessible energy should also be a human right (yes). It also requires governments giving its people a certain level of freedom that to some of the more repressive regimes in the world might be dangerous. For example in China, your Internet access would be screened, limited, and monitored by the state.
While there are obvious obstacles, I believe that these are changes that must and will be executed in the future. As the Internet becomes increasingly a part of more and more peoples lives it will become harder and harder to keep people disconnected. After all, technological advancements have been changing the world since the dawn of the printing press and the latest revolutionary technology is the Internet.
Actualizing universal Internet access as a goal though is as tricky as one would think. For one, it requires a source of electricity which begs the question that affordable, accessible energy should also be a human right (yes). It also requires governments giving its people a certain level of freedom that to some of the more repressive regimes in the world might be dangerous. For example in China, your Internet access would be screened, limited, and monitored by the state.
While there are obvious obstacles, I believe that these are changes that must and will be executed in the future. As the Internet becomes increasingly a part of more and more peoples lives it will become harder and harder to keep people disconnected. After all, technological advancements have been changing the world since the dawn of the printing press and the latest revolutionary technology is the Internet.
Hi Nish - I believe that the advancement of technology challenges our conception of civil liberties and human rights. I agree that the Internet has become an indispensable part of our modern existence. Those who do not adapt to the fast pace of technology are left by the wayside. Participating in the economy and politics becomes almost impossible if one does not have access to the Internet. Without access to the Internet, deliberative democracy would crumble.
ReplyDeleteThis raises a lot of important questions that I hoped you could answer. Should the internet be treated as a public utility? Who should administer the internet? The private sector or the government? To what extent should citizens be guaranteed access to technology and what technology should they have access to? Is it the role of the government to monitor the internet and prevent misuse?