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We need to establish free internet access as a standalone human right


Free and unimpeded internet access is no longer a convenience or a luxury. It is high time it was made a human right enshrined in law, says philosopher Merten Reglitz

That fundamental importance to life today means that free access to the internet now needs to be recognised as a standalone human right by the UN and nation states. When the internet is used to monitor populations to identify opposition to political power, to collect private data to maximise profits, or to misinform and generate interpersonal strife, it becomes a technology of repression rather than of empowerment. This right would demand that states respect internet users’ privacy, instead of spying on them, censoring information or manipulating through online propaganda.

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