Internet is Human Right!
The technology and philosophy in the middle of the recent debate more than ever. It is clear that this technique is faster than anyone would have thought ten years ago, in the future, while the argument can be made that the philosophy that brought the world so far declined to less civilized times. In the whether or not access is a human right or just an honor, technology and philosophy collide dramatically.
Arguments Vinton G. Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist of Google and leading computer scientists recognize as the “father of the Internet,” In his article titled “No internet access is a human right” is very convincing. He argues that “technology is the enabler of rights, not the law itself.”
This is a “gotcha” statement that the perception fight for more rights in the Internet based on Web played a big role in the insurgency in the Middle East and North Africa passed. Basically, the statement and the entire article attempts to reason with the supporters of the UN report which stated that the Internet is a human right. He acknowledged that the Internet is very important, but calling it a human right, or even civil rights is taking it too far.
I disagree.
No need to try to redefine what “human rights” are. According to Wikipedia, is a human right “is often understood as the rights which a person is inherently entitled to simply because he is human.”
This fits well today as it fits the term is introduced in the 18th century. The question really comes down to delivery rights. Instead of trying to play with semantics, we must look at the results of the last few years and make a determination based on three questions:
Is it possible in the near future, an infrastructure that will make Internet access available to almost anyone in the world to create?
Will make Internet access throughout the world for most people to promote positive change in every culture and every society?
Those without Internet access are less able to develop?
Answer number 1 is definitely yes, but not without challenges. Number 2 is debatable, but recent history, largely depends on the affirmative. Number 3 is a philosophical question personally, but also the common perception is affirmative here.
Technology is an enabler like CERF country. In many cases, it is right, the two countries are not mutually exclusive. He uses the example of a horse that has never made life easier, where the horse is an enabler and earn a living is the right man. Technology is not a horse. The Internet is not a horse. Only a small percentage of people who owned horses, while most capable of making a living.
It is no coincidence that there seems a new rebellion against oppression in the world every month. Oppression is not new. The desire to end the oppression is not new. Ability to organize, communicate and learn via the internet is all that is added to the equation. There is a more successful revolution against a strong authority in the last two years compared with 50 years earlier.
Down the importance of the Internet and most likely to improve the human condition is dangerous. In this case I am part of the United Nations (something I do not often). Vault Internet to the highest plateau of human rights as the right is the right step to end more than just oppression around the world. This is a step towards greater opportunities, better education, and the end of hostilities based on ignorance. These are elements such as drugs that must fall into the same category.
As an exercise in comparison, taking the words on the Internet access of the three questions and replace them with access to medicines. Most agree that access to medicines is a human right, but even that has basically the same answer when these questions.
No. 1: yes, but not without challenges. Number 2: debatable, but most tend to be affirmative. Number 3: private with public perception affirmative.
The claim that the CERF is trying to make is that technology and the Internet means to an end, not an end in itself. He is right. That does not mean that human rights are considered. Conversely, a discovery that gives people the tools they can use to dramatically improve their lives should be used to support the goal of providing all people, everywhere a chance to the most profound technological breakthrough using rally in decades.
If the UN declared that Internet access should be a human right is the way to reality, we should not play around with the semantics of the statement. We must strive to become a reality.
