Tim Berners-Lee (British computer scientist to whom we owe the invention of the Web in 1989) made it known he's been here for several days concerned about the emergence of a 'digital divide' global because too many young people can't connect.
And it is that in a published letter, Berners-Lee and Rosemary Leith, both co-founders of the Web Foundation, a non-profit organization, wrote: "Too many young people remain excluded and cannot use the Web to share their stories, talents and ideas." For them, access to the Internet must be recognized as a fundamental right.
In the post to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, wrote that governments should strive to ensure global access high speed internet, to reduce the digital divide and better empower technology companies.
"Governments must pass effective laws that govern technology and hold companies accountable for creating responsible products and services," Berners-Lee wrote in the post co-authored with Rosemary Leith.
"As we did with electricity in the last century, we must recognize Internet access as a fundamental right and we must work so that all young people can connect to a Web that gives them the power to shape their world."
“The consequences of this exclusion affect everyone. How many brilliant young minds are on the wrong side of the digital divide? Ask the co-authors, noting that "every young person who cannot connect represents a missed opportunity for new ideas and innovations that could serve humanity."
The extent of the digital divide was highlighted during the coronavirus pandemicas people tried to work and learn from home, often with less than ideal internet connections. According to the Pew Research Center, in the United States alone, only two-thirds of people who live in rural areas have access to broadband, compared to 79% of people who live in the suburbs. Also, the Federal Communications Commission maps, which are not popular with everyone, do not provide a completely clear picture of the state of broadband access in the United States.
Berners-Lee and Leith write that globally the problem is equally serious. A third of people between the ages of 15 and 24 do not have access to the Internet, according to the United Nations agency, the International Telecommunications Union. "Many others do not have the data, devices, and reliable connection they need to get the most out of the web," Berners-Lee and Leith wrote in the Web Foundation's annual letter.
“In fact, only the first third of those under 25 have an Internet connection at home, according to UNICEF, leaving 2.200 billion young people without the stable access they need to learn online. Who helped many more continue their education during the pandemic. "
Berners-Lee and Leith too cite the need to protect young people online from abuse and misinformation, "Which threatens their participation and may force them to leave the platforms altogether," they wrote. "This is especially true for those who are disproportionately targeted because of their race, religion, sexuality, ability and gender."
The co-authors of the letter They also call for Internet access to be recognized as a fundamental right and they say that the costs of ensuring that all young people are connected “are within our reach. By funding network infrastructure, providing grants and supporting community networks, we can put the web in the hands of all the young people on the planet, ”they say. "A general push to connect the world will ensure that young people are not forgotten."
Berners-Lee and Leith indicate that the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), an initiative of the Web Foundation, “has calculated that an additional investment of $ 428 billion over ten years would provide everyone with a quality broadband connection. To put that in perspective, that's the equivalent of just $ 116 per person for the 3.7 billion people who remain offline today.
Providing universal broadband access over the next ten years "would unlock an estimated $ 8,7 trillion in direct economic benefits," they write, citing a new analysis from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
"We cannot afford not to."
Source: https://webfoundation.org
For Liberticides, everything is a Right.
It is not like that, on the Internet you can educate yourself, inform yourself (as well as misinform yourself as in real life), work, entertain yourself, etc; In other words, it offers you some of the most basic rights such as education / information and work and you are going to say that it does not count as a right, IT IS A RIGHT!
The Internet is not a "Right" because for its existence as well as its maintenance, it needs an infrastructure and people whose cost is not free, by establishing itself as a "Right" then everyone must be able to enjoy it, such as the Right Fundamental to Freedom, which is free because your Freedom does not detract from that of others, being able to fully exercise it without entailing a cost for you and society. Very different from converting something that is a Service into a "Right" because in order to provide it without exceptions, it will be necessary either to oblige some so that everyone can enjoy it or to extract income from everyone to the detriment of their patrimony to offer said "Right" That there is no guarantee of being free of corruption, as of its quality, that it meets the requirements of each person and that it does not result in a tool for political control.