Project Awesome

[Twin-Skies]

UN declares internet access a basic human right

Suck on that, government censorship!

http://singularityhub.com/2011/06/12/un-...t-as-open/

In a breakthrough report to the 17th session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue from Guatemala called for governments of the world to protect citizens’ access to the internet as a key tool for enabling their human rights. Open and anonymous online discourse has rapidly become one of the driving forces in political change around the world. In the aftermath of Iran’s election protests, WikiLeaks scandals, and Egyption revolutions, blogs and tweets are now tools for social justice. La Rue wants them to be available to people no matter the political climate of their homeland. The “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression” has already generated a wave of responses from media sources, on and offline. Yet as the UN moves to pressure its governments for freedom of expression on the internet, I’m left wondering if we aren’t missing half the issue. Open and anonymous is important, but so is fast and cheap. What good is protecting our freedom of online speech when most of us can’t even get online in the first place?