Access to the internet: an essential human right.

Last weekend, my older brother, while cleaning the house, came across handwritten letters my brothers and I wrote to our parents while in high school and college. It was an awesome nostalgic reflection of how we communicated via letter writing, which was the pre-digital era here in Nigeria. The letters were dated as far back as 2002/2003 and were sent through the Nigerian post service (NIPOST). The internet was pretty far-fetched during this period, and our dependence was majorly via such crude communication methods.

The internet, however, has engulfed civilization for the past two decades, and humanity has had wide access to its services. The internet has widely spread to the nooks and crannies of residences and has become vital for everyday living businesses. Suffice to say that at least 95% of the globe uses the internet services in various capacities such as trading, learning, teaching, etc. Almost all of civilization depends on the internet.

The access to internet facilities brings about a form of social inclusiveness such that the individual feels he or she is part of a greater community (known or unknown). Personally, I have been out of data for some time and, consequently, the internet. I have often felt incomplete and cut off from the globe at large. Thus, like many others, we can spend our limited resources just so we can have access to the internet.

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The internet being borne as a necessity of globalization and modernization qualifies as a fundamental human right, majorly because of its inclusiveness and access to unlimited opportunities. Access to the internet has improved lives, especially as it regards knowledge acquisition, exposure to diverse cultures and beliefs, etc.

The globe has continued to expand and extend its internet coverage beyond the urban areas such that those people in the rural communities can have access to the internet and enjoy the inclusiveness and advantages that attribute to the internet. The internet has become widely accepted as a tool of interconnectivity among the human populace, and everyone has benefited in one way or another.

Preventing access to the internet should be considered a breach or violation of human rights. This is because the individual is being barred from accessing numerous advantages attributed to access to the internet.

If the world were to restrict access to the internet, a regression to the crude and uncivilized way of life would be imminent. Inequity to knowledge and opportunity would be the order of the day. Advances in science and technology would equally be limited to those that are favored in terms of access.

Knowledge is power, and such can be gotten through access to the internet. The internet is a faster means to access information than the crude and heavy books that were being carried about several decades ago.

Though the globe survived before the advent of the internet, however, the rate of progression would be slowed if the internet access was restricted. We may be able to live without the internet, but the journey would be slow and perhaps inequitable.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.