LONDON – More than three-quarters of people across the world believe access to the Internet is a fundamental right, a poll carried out for the BBC indicated Monday.
The poll, which questioned more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries, suggested strong support globally for access to the web.
The findings come as efforts are stepped up across the world to increase net access, with the United Nations leading a push for more people to be given the opportunity to get online.
Countries including Finland and Estonia have already ruled it is a human right, said the BBC.
“The right to communicate cannot be ignored,” Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, told the broadcaster.
“The Internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created.”
Almost 79 percent of those questioned said they strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the description of the Internet as a “fundamental right of all people.” This included people who had access and those who did not.
A total of 87 percent of Internet users questioned in the poll, carried out by GlobeScan for the BBC, felt access should be a right, while more than 70 percent of non-users agreed with this view.
Mexico, Brazil and Turkey were among countries where support was highest, according to the survey.
The findings also suggested people in a diverse range of countries felt the web was a vital part of their lives. Three-quarters in Japan, Mexico and Russia said they could not cope without it.
South Korea, where nearly all citizens enjoy high-speed net access, had the greatest majority of people — 96 percent — who believed access was a fundamental right.
The US Treasury Department on Monday eased sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to allow exports by US companies of services related to Web browsing, blogging, email, instant messaging, chat, social networking and photo- and movie-sharing.
“We’re supporting the right of free expression,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday
The decision to allow exports of Web tools to Iran was intended to allow Iranians to “communicate without being blocked by their own government”, she explained. –AFP
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
