Internet access as important as roads

Access to the web is seen as a fundamental human right, and technology infrastructure as important as traditional infrastructure such as roads, water and so forth.

Those without the Internet are perceived as being robbed of the most important means of communication in the modern world, not to mention a huge source of knowledge and education.

This is according to a recent survey conducted by the BBC World Service, which polled almost 30,000 people across 26 countries.

79% of respondents felt that Internet access was a citizen’s right, not privilege. Indeed, several European countries (including Finland) have already ruled that the net is a fundamental human right.

As for the UK, the government’s universal service commitment is designed to ensure everyone in the country can obtain at least a 2Mbps connection by 2012.

The survey produced a number of other statistics – for example, three-quarters of Japanese people said they couldn’t live without the Internet. A bit dramatic, but we appreciate the sentiment.

Yet the Japanese respondents felt they couldn’t air their honest opinions online, as did those questioned from South Korea and Germany.

South Koreans believed by a majority that the Internet should remain free of the censoring tentacles of government. Yet in the UK, over half of those asked reckoned some limited government regulation was a good thing.

Of course, the trouble with limited regulation is that its boundaries are easily moved, and those limitations can be eroded over time…