Vint Cerf, one of the so-called ‘fathers of the internet’, has dismissed the argument that internet access is a human right.
Cerf, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a vice president of Google, told the New York Times that “technology is an enabler of rights, not a right itself.”
Egyptian authorities blocked access to Twitter in January as anti-government protesters used it to communicate with each other during demonstrations and even went as far to implement an internet blackout in the country in an attempt to stop protests. Even as recently as December, the Syrian government banned the use of iPhones in the country.
“From the streets of Tunis to Tahrir Square and beyond, protests around the world last year were built on the Internet and the many devices that interact with it,” said Cerf. “They could never have happened as they did without the ability that the Internet offers to communicate, organise and publicise everywhere, instantaneously.”
However Cerf says that there is a high bar for something to be considered a human right as it must be something that humans need to lead healthy lives, such as freedom from torture or conscience. He says that it would be a mistake to put technology in this category as it changes over time and it is merely an enabling factor.
A UN report ruled that the internet had “become an indispensable tool for realising a range of human rights”, a statement which Cerf
However, Cerf acknowledges that there are stronger arbuments for internet access being a civil, not a human right: “They [civil rights] are conferred upon us by law, not intrinsic to us as human beings.” He cites the US notion of ‘universal service’ which requires services such as telephone, electricity and broadband to be made available in even the most remote regions of the country.
“Improving the Internet is just one means, albeit an important one, by which to improve the human condition. It must be done with an appreciation for the civil and human rights that deserve protection — without pretending that access itself is such a right,” he said.
A BBC World Service poll carried out in March 2010 said that 80 percent of people worldwide considered internet access to be a human right rather than a privilege and the UN is increasingly pushing for it to be declared a universal right.
Spain, Estonia and Finland have all made internet access a legal right, while a US group has officially petitioned the US government to amend the constitution and make web access an unalienable right.
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What interesting quaint language. The media always uses words like 'father' as though there are some sort of religious people around who are the godfathers and benefactors of us all. Why do you not use words like 'pioneer' or 'architect' or 'developer' because it they have fewer connotations. You see that someone does the original work and if people 'like' the product that is sold to them they then develop it further or keep it and they don't like it they 'can' also ditch it after all it is a fee world isn't it?