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Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
31–40 of 84 posts
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#32The UN can say it all it wants. That doesn't make it true.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#33The motion does not say that Internet access is a human right.
The gist of the motion is captured in the affirmation that "the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice" [http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c6/19/64/51/6999c512.pdf]
The UN is simply affirming that the media through which a expression is conveyed should not change the understanding that freedom of expression is a human right.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who was once banned from the Internet by the US gov't[1], I actually agree with you. People throw around terms like "human right" without knowing what it means. If access to the Internet is a human right, that means every human in the world should be able to demand access to the Internet? I think the Internet absolutely should receive First Amendment protection in the US (and the US Supreme Court agrees),…
> If access to the Internet is a human right, that means every human in the world should be able to demand access to the Internet? You seem to be asking this rhetorically, but I don't see what your objection to people being allowed to demand access to the Internet is. Could you actually spell it out?
Because it isn't a "right" that is why. Once you go down that road it means that those that have have to pay for those that have not. No thank you.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's not what someone means when they say "every child has a right to an education". They do not mean "the government cannot prevent you from getting an education". They mean "the government must provide you with an education". No one has a right to travel. It's actually phrased as the right to freedom of movement, which is a good confusing phrase because it prevents you from thinking you already know what it means…
Another example is "the right to health care." People don't use that to mean that you have the right to pay thousands of dollars for an MRI. They generally mean the government should provide health care.
Well then they are using the word `right` incorrectly.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#36Going to have to start by proclaiming that several other things are human rights before you get to Internet access. Access devices are a human right. Electricity is a human right. Access to telecom lines (of some sort) is a human right. Access to mobile or a spot to plug into is a human right. Transistors are a human right. Storage is a human right. Some kind of electronic or digital display is a human right.
First, this is a set not a list so it's nonsensical to rank those in importance. More to the point, I don't read that proclamation as "everyone is entitled to internet access". I read it as: no-one (specifically government) should be able to take away your access to internet. The difference is not that subtle. It's important because it counters a growing world-wide tendency to take away your access after some minor i…
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Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If access to the Internet is a human right, that means every human in the world should be able to demand access to the Internet? You seem to be asking this rhetorically, but I don't see what your objection to people being allowed to demand access to the Internet is. Could you actually spell it out?
Because it isn't a "right" that is why. Once you go down that road it means that those that have have to pay for those that have not. No thank you.
> Once you go down that road it means that those that have have to pay for those that have not.
I'm okay with those who have having to pay for those who have not.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#38Going to have to start by proclaiming that several other things are human rights before you get to Internet access. Access devices are a human right. Electricity is a human right. Access to telecom lines (of some sort) is a human right. Access to mobile or a spot to plug into is a human right. Transistors are a human right. Storage is a human right. Some kind of electronic or digital display is a human right.
I don't find this as absurd as you make it out to be.
Let's do it.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If access to the Internet is a human right, that means every human in the world should be able to demand access to the Internet? You seem to be asking this rhetorically, but I don't see what your objection to people being allowed to demand access to the Internet is. Could you actually spell it out?
Because it isn't a "right" that is why. Once you go down that road it means that those that have have to pay for those that have not. No thank you.
I don't understand this logic. Maybe it's cultural. But still, freedom of speech is something like a human right, right? Then does it mean the government need to give newspapers for free to those who won't buy them?
Freedom to access internet is to same level, it means human people shouldn't be arbitrarily blocked from accessing internet, that's all, that's enough, and that's already a lot, actually.
Re: Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If access to the Internet is a human right, that means every human in the world should be able to demand access to the Internet? You seem to be asking this rhetorically, but I don't see what your objection to people being allowed to demand access to the Internet is. Could you actually spell it out?
What if I can't pay for it? Do I have the right to force somebody else to pay for it? Am I going to be forced to pay for the Internet of somebody else? Why is the Internet a human right but electricity, which is kind of critical to running the Internet, is not? The Internet just seems really specific (see the list of others at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ ).
> What if I can't pay for it? Do I have the right to force somebody else to pay for it? Am I going to be forced to pay for the Internet of somebody else?
That's roughly what taxes are for, yes.
> Why is the Internet a human right but electricity, which is kind of critical to running the Internet, is not?
There are a number of arguments for electricity being a human right. I'm perfectly okay with saying it is one.
That said, the interesting point is that you're imagining electricity here to be an implicit right of Internet access. That's fine, but it implies that, if Internet access did not require electricity (and who knows, maybe it won't someday), the claim is that Internet access remains a human right without a need to imply a right to electricity.