Is internet access a human right?

The idea that  internet access should be a human right might sound ridiculous to people that grew up before the net existed, but it has been gaining serious traction in some countries. In fact, Spain, Estonia and Greece have already declared it as a human right and 79% of respondents to a recent BBC survey of 27,000 people across 26 countries said they believed access to the net was a “fundamental right”.

In New Zealand, the issue has received relatively little coverage in the mainstream media. Labour communications spokesperson Clare Curran has regularly blogged about it and the NZLawyer publication carried an article in April, but other than that, the issue has remained in the shadows.

Most of the arguments in support of the internet as a human right hinge on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 19 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Amnesty International NZ CEO Patrick Holmes told PC World it was clear that Article 19 suggested access to the internet was vital for freedom of expression and it should always be respected and promoted in New Zealand.

All human rights were equally important but “some are more equal than others,” he said. “When you talk about human rights you talk about them being universal and indivisible. You can’t just pick and choose.”

“It would be wrong to say that a person’s right to access to the internet is more or less important than something else. It depends on what situation they are in.”

The issue wasn’t a major focus for Amnesty International, which generally focused on “grave human rights abuses” but it was part of the UDHR which formed the cornerstone of the organisation’s philosophy, Holmes said.

Communications and IT minister Steven Joyce was aware of the debate but said  “declaring that the internet is a human right is not a priority for the government”. Instead, the government was focused on implementing the Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative, which would provide fast broadband for urban  New Zealanders and  a and rural broadband rollout, which aimed to improve speeds for the vast majority of rural schools and households, he said.

“[Those policies] will make a real difference in the lives of New Zealanders,” Joyce said.

Human Rights Commission part-time commissioner Joy Liddicoat said the commission did not have a position on the issue but it was aware of the debate and wished to encourage more dialogue about it. The commission was preparing a report updating the status of human rights in New Zealand and would include a section on the internet and human rights in the report’s chapter on freedom of expression, she said.

“That draft should be in the public domain for consultation some time in the next month,” Liddicoat said.