When Middle Eastern governments attempted to block information from their citizens by preventing Internet access, the international community was appalled. People were silenced. It was as if their vocal cords were cut; it was as if those of us outside the Middle East were blinded. Today, Internet access, much like access to water and shelter, is a basic necessity.
The United Nations recently declared that disconnecting people from the Internet is a violation of human rights. Thus, in order to bridge this digital divide, we have a responsibility to our fellow citizens of the world. To illustrate the growing need for Internet access, we can look to statistics from the World Bank. In the early 1990s, there were 0.3 Internet users for every 100 people. Today, that figure has increased 90 times over.
At times, it may be easy to get caught up in the ease of our online lifestyles, with instant access to information. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 92 percent of Americans rely on multiple sources for news, combining traditional print, TV, and radio with online sources. Among those who get news online, 75 percent receive their news via email or posts on social networking sites, while 52 percent share news links with others via those same sites. Without access to the Internet, we are deprived not only of their voices, but also of their ability to learn about and interact with their communities and the world.
Even in the U.S., the concept of Internet connectivity as a basic human right, or even as a form of public infrastructure, is not really an everyday practice. While there may be access to free Wi-‐Fi in libraries, parks, and other public places, the service is limited. The wait for a computer with Internet access at a public library is often long and discouraging.
In many ways, access to the Internet parallels access to clean water. Cheap, clean tap water, provided via public infrastructure, is obviously a healthy and humane service all Americans expect. But imagine if, in the U.S., high-‐priced, privatized water were only available to those who could afford it. If we are to accept that affordable Internet access is a basic human right, then we need to be willing to confront these challenges.
When cutting off Egyptian and Syrian protesters’ Internet access is perceived as “censorship,” pricing Internet access out of American consumers’ reach, as more and more basic communication happens online each day, is effectively an act of censorship, too. Our attitudes about the Arab Spring hold up a mirror to ourselves.