Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
theguardian.com
Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
1–10 of 167 posts
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#2I don't think internet access is a human right, a simple test is if the internet goes down are my rights being violated?
Can you really put this in the same category as the right to pursue happiness or health? or the right to defend yourself?
Classifying everything as a right is super fun and feels important but it actually takes away from the actual human rights.
Health care is another example - do you have the right to an EKG machine? or a drug that was just invented using thousands of man hours of pharma research? Should those people work for free so that a poor persons rights are not violated?
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#3If every material thing that the developed world has is a "basic human right", then effectively nothing is a basic human right. Furthermore it conflates material comfort with the inherent inalienable rights that human beings are born with, which I think is quite dangerous.
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#4If every material thing that the developed world has is a "basic human right", then effectively nothing is a basic human right. Furthermore it conflates material comfort with the inherent inalienable rights that human beings are born with, which I think is quite dangerous.
Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity. It's not all lost, we still have a chance.
Edit: I was serious. I really liked what you said, especially: "Human rights aren't "provided" to you. You are born with them and they can never be taken away, only violated by thugs and tyrants."
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#5I don't think internet access is a human right, a simple test is if the internet goes down are my rights being violated? Can you really put this in the same category as the right to pursue happiness or health? or the right to defend yourself? Classifying everything as a right is super fun and feels important but it actually takes away from the actual human rights. Health care is another example - do you have the righ…
> Should those people work for free so that a poor persons rights are not violated?
Just because something is a human right, doesn't mean society (or whoever else) has to provide that for free.
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#6I negotiated this resolution on behalf of a UN government. The title is very misleading. The resolution states that human rights are applicable on the internet, not that access to the internet is a human right.
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#7If every material thing that the developed world has is a "basic human right", then effectively nothing is a basic human right. Furthermore it conflates material comfort with the inherent inalienable rights that human beings are born with, which I think is quite dangerous.
The only things that can be "human rights" are the things a society can consistently provide for just about everyone. The "human right" nomenclature just means we're going to spend some effort to push it from 98% to 100%.
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#8I don't think internet access is a human right, a simple test is if the internet goes down are my rights being violated? Can you really put this in the same category as the right to pursue happiness or health? or the right to defend yourself? Classifying everything as a right is super fun and feels important but it actually takes away from the actual human rights. Health care is another example - do you have the righ…
George Carlin on Rights vs. Privileges.
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#9I don't think internet access is a human right, a simple test is if the internet goes down are my rights being violated? Can you really put this in the same category as the right to pursue happiness or health? or the right to defend yourself? Classifying everything as a right is super fun and feels important but it actually takes away from the actual human rights. Health care is another example - do you have the righ…
> Should those people work for free so that a poor persons rights are not violated? Just because something is a human right, doesn't mean society (or whoever else) has to provide that for free.
Well, a humane society would.
Re: Internet access is now a basic human right (2016)
#10I don't think internet access is a human right, a simple test is if the internet goes down are my rights being violated? Can you really put this in the same category as the right to pursue happiness or health? or the right to defend yourself? Classifying everything as a right is super fun and feels important but it actually takes away from the actual human rights. Health care is another example - do you have the righ…
> Should those people work for free so that a poor persons rights are not violated? Just because something is a human right, doesn't mean society (or whoever else) has to provide that for free.
The point is that _rights_ ought to be things that, in the absence of a society, you already _have_. (Life, liberty, right to property, etc) They are things that a just society is obligated to not take _away_ from you. Things that a just and wealthy society should be able to provide _for_ its citizens (health care, economic security, etc), are laudable and highly important goals. They are not rights though -- not because they aren't important enough, but simply because they are a categorically different sort of thing.
The whole reason we have the concept of rights is that a social structure in which people do not have rights is an illegitimate one. An impoverished island nation which cannot afford to provide healthcare or internet access to its citizens is not illegitimate because of it.