Most Believe Internet Access Is a Human Right

Varying attitudes on government oversight
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2010 8:40 AM CST
Most Believe Internet Access Is a Human Right
People surf the Internet outside a phone company that set up free wireless access, phone lines and power outlets in Concepcion, Chile, Thursday, March 4, 2010.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Nearly four out of five people believe that access to the Internet should be universal right for all human beings. A BBC survey of more than 27,000 people from 26 countries found that 79% agree that Internet access is a fundamental right. But there are disagreements among that majority as to how regulated the Internet should be.

South Korea and Nigeria had the most libertarian attitudes about global communication, while Chinese and European respondents were more welcoming of government regulation. Some 55% of Brits, for example, said there were reasonable arguments to be made for some kinds of oversight.
(More Internet access stories.)

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