Access to the Internet as a Human Right

Uneven Connections: A Partial History of the Mobile Phone in Papua New Guinea

“…The question of infrastructural citizenship bears consideration in light of the 2016 United Nations declaration that access to the internet is a human right (Howell and West 2016). This declaration focused on governmental responsibility for ensuring that citizens are not denied access to the internet as a means for free political expression; but it did not obligate governments to provide access to all citizens, especially the poorest.…”

The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse

“…The overwhelming importance of the internet to development and the economy in the current information age cannot be overemphasized. In 2016, access to the internet was deemed a human right by the United Nations and the intentional disruption of internet, a human rights violation (Howell & West, 2016). About 75% of respondents surveyed across 39 countries by Pew Research were found to either use the internet occasionally or own a smartphone (Poushter, Caldwell, & Chwe, 2018a).…”