Right to Internet access


The right to Internet access, also known as the right to broadband or freedom to connect, is the view that all people must be able to access the Internet in order to exercise and enjoy their rights to freedom of expression and opinion and other fundamental human rights, that states have a responsibility to ensure that Internet access is broadly available, and that states may not unreasonably restrict an individual's access to the Internet.

History

In December 2003, the World Summit on the Information Society was convened under the auspice of the United Nations. After lengthy negotiations between governments, businesses, and civil society representatives, the WSIS Declaration of Principles was adopted, reaffirming the importance of the Information Society in maintaining and strengthening human rights:
The WSIS Declaration of Principles makes specific reference to the importance of the right to freedom of expression in the "Information Society" in stating:

2009–2010: BBC World Service poll

A poll of 27,973 adults in 26 countries, including 14,306 Internet users, conducted for the BBC World Service between 30 November 2009 and 7 February 2010 found that almost four in five Internet users and non-users around the world felt that access to the Internet was a fundamental right. 50% strongly agreed, 29% somewhat agreed, 9% somewhat disagreed, 6% strongly disagreed, and 6% gave no opinion.

2011: UN Special Rapporteur report

In May 2011, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council "exploring key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds of media". The report made 88 recommendations on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression online, including several to secure access to the Internet for all. Other recommendations call on states to respect online anonymity, adopt privacy and data protection laws, and decriminalize defamation. La Rue's recommendations explained that:
  • 67. Unlike any other medium, the Internet enables individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds instantaneously and inexpensively across national borders. By vastly expanding the capacity of individuals to enjoy their right to freedom of opinion and expression, which is an "enabler" of other human rights, the Internet boosts economic, social, and political development, and contributes to the progress of humankind as a whole. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur encourages other Special Procedures mandate holders to engage on the issue of the Internet concerning their particular mandates.
  • 78. While blocking and filtering measures deny users access to specific content on the Internet, States have also taken measures to cut off access to the Internet entirely. The Special Rapporteur considers cutting off users from Internet access, regardless of the justification provided, including on the grounds of violating intellectual property rights law, to be disproportionate and thus a violation of article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  • 79. The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to ensure that Internet access is maintained at all times, including during times of political unrest.
  • 85. Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all States. Each State should thus develop a concrete and effective policy, in consultation with individuals from all sections of society, including the private sector and relevant Government ministries, to make the Internet widely available, accessible, and affordable to all segments of the population.
Media coverage of the report suggested that La Rue had declared Internet access itself a human right by emphasizing that "the Internet has become a key means by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom and expression". In his report, La Rue stressed that "There should be as little restriction as possible to the flow of information via the Internet, except in a few, very exceptional, and limited circumstances prescribed by international human rights law." La Rue also emphasized that "any restriction must be provided by law and proven to be necessary and the least intrusive means available for protecting the rights of others".

Internet Society's Global Internet User Survey

In July and August 2012 the Internet Society conducted online interviews of more than 10,000 Internet users in 20 countries. In response to the statement "Access to the Internet should be considered a basic human right":
  • 83% responded that they somewhat or strongly agreed
  • 14% that they somewhat or strongly disagreed
  • 3% that they didn't know.

    2016: UN Resolution

In the Summer of 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a non-binding resolution condemning intentional disruption of internet access by governments. The resolution reaffirmed that "the same rights people have offline must also be protected online."

Ensuring that access is broadly available and preventing unreasonable restrictions

Several countries have adopted laws that require the state to work to ensure that Internet access is broadly available, prevailing or preventing the state from unreasonably restricting an individual's access to information and the Internet:
  • Costa Rica: A 30 July 2010 ruling by the Supreme Court of Costa Rica stated: "Without fear of equivocation, it can be said that these technologies have impacted the way humans communicate, facilitating the connection between people and institutions worldwide and eliminating barriers of space and time. At this time, access to these technologies becomes a basic tool to facilitate the exercise of fundamental rights and democratic participation and citizen control, education, freedom of thought and expression, access to information and public services online, the right to communicate with the government electronically and administrative transparency, among others. This includes the fundamental right of access to these technologies, in particular, the right of access to the Internet or World Wide Web."
  • Estonia: In 2000, the parliament launched a massive program to expand access to the countryside. The Internet, the government argues, is essential for life in the 21st century.
  • Finland: In 2010, Finland was the first country in the world to grant its citizens the right to internet access in law. By July 2010, every person in Finland was to have access to a one-megabit per second broadband connection, according to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and by 2015, access to a 100 Mbit/s connection.
  • France: In June 2009, the Constitutional Council, France's highest court, declared access to the Internet to be a basic human right in a strongly-worded decision that struck down portions of the HADOPI law, a law that would have tracked abusers and without judicial review automatically cut off-network access to those who continued to download illicit material after two warnings
  • Greece: Article 5A of the Constitution of Greece states that all persons have a right to participate in the Information Society and that the state must facilitate the production, exchange, diffusion, and access to electronically transmitted information.
  • India: In September 2019, Kerala High Court held that the right to have access to the internet is part of the fundamental Right to Education as well as the Right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
  • Spain: Starting in 2011, Telefónica, the former state monopoly that holds the country's "universal service" contract, has to guarantee to offer "reasonably" priced broadband of at least one megabit per second throughout Spain.

    Links to other rights

Right to freedom of speech

The right to Internet access is closely linked to the right of freedom of speech which can be seen to encompass freedom of expression as well. Two key facets of the Internet are highlighted by Stephanie Borg Psaila - the Internet's content and the Internet's infrastructure. The infrastructure is necessary to deliver the service to the masses but requires extensive positive action. The content loaded onto the Internet however is seen as something that should be available to all, with few or no restrictions; limits on content have been viewed as the key breach of human rights, namely the right to freedom of speech.
The Internet's power is said to lie in its removal of a government's control of information. Online on the Internet, any individual can publish anything, which allows citizens to circumvent the government's official information sources. This has threatened governing regimes and lead to many censoring or cutting Internet services in times of crisis.
China and Iran are currently the two world's largest censorship users. Both nations use extensive firewall systems to block any information from the Internet which they perceive to be offensive or threatening to their regimes. If a citizen of these nations is caught dissenting from the nation using the Internet then they may face severe penalties, even the removal of civil liberties.
In contrast to this, censorship which has been initiated by the United States is focused more on the protection of intellectual property. While the right to a proportion of one's ideas is recognized, there is widespread fear that wide-ranging powers awarded in anti-piracy laws will lead to the abuse of freedom of expression and censorship.
The removal or censorship of the Internet in turn could be seen as a breach of the human right of freedom of speech.
One such particular incident was in Egypt, where the government of Hosni Mubarak shut down the Internet several times during the 2011 uprising in an attempt to suppress the protests, which happened during the Arab Spring. Even though services were only cut off for a few days, this stifled Egyptians' ability to access basic services – such as ambulances – which has been blamed by some for escalating the death toll of protesters. In response to this, Google and Twitter developed a voice mail service for Egyptians to leave messages which in turn were posted onto Twitter.
In the report to the OSCE on Internet access as a fundamental human right, Professor Yaman Akdenian states that the right to freedom of expression must be universal including the technology which will enable it. Restrictions on this right and any mediums required to fulfill it should only be permitted if they comply with international norms and are balanced again the public interest. Furthermore, the author noted that new technologies which arise in aiding the freedom of expression will require new approaches. Thus rules governing the use of non-digital media cannot be assumed to apply to digital media too. Furthermore, it was also noted in the paper presented to the OSCE that extra measures should be taken to ensure vulnerable groups such as children have access to the Internet and literacy programs.