Four In Five Feel Internet Access "Is A Right"
Broadband Internet. It's a luxury that many of us take for granted, and if it goes out even for a few minutes, we get up in arms about the outage. We expect it to always be there, and we expect it to always work perfectly. Frankly, we don't give a single thought as to how life was pre-broadband. In fact, we probably complain more often than not that our upload speeds are too limited and our ping times are still too high. My, how spoiled we have become. Or have we?
According to a new global survey of 27,000 adults in 26 countries for the BBC World Service, just under 80% of Internet users believed that the Web gave them "greater freedom," while 90% said it was "a good place to learn." What's more amazing is this one: four in five felt that access to the Internet was "a fundamental right," with those feelings being particularly strong in places where access is either limited or restricted in some way (South Korea and China were named in the article).
Residents of the United States were quick to jump on the same bandwagon, while those in Japan tended to be wary of how beneficial being online all of the time really was. Mostly, they weren't confident that it was completely safe to express their opinions online, which was a feeling shared in France, Germany and China.
The real kicker? Of the 27,000 who were polled, over half agreed that the "Internet should never be regulated by any level of government anywhere," which is sure saying a lot given just how regulated it really is in many nations. As for those who thought they might pass out and faint if their Ethernet cord were cut and their Wi-Fi adapter disabled? Over 70% of respondents in Japan, Mexico and Russia said they could not live without the Internet, and we're guessing that 100% of America agreed. For what it's worth, we're in total agreement for the Internet being a right. Power to the surfers!
According to a new global survey of 27,000 adults in 26 countries for the BBC World Service, just under 80% of Internet users believed that the Web gave them "greater freedom," while 90% said it was "a good place to learn." What's more amazing is this one: four in five felt that access to the Internet was "a fundamental right," with those feelings being particularly strong in places where access is either limited or restricted in some way (South Korea and China were named in the article).
Residents of the United States were quick to jump on the same bandwagon, while those in Japan tended to be wary of how beneficial being online all of the time really was. Mostly, they weren't confident that it was completely safe to express their opinions online, which was a feeling shared in France, Germany and China.
The real kicker? Of the 27,000 who were polled, over half agreed that the "Internet should never be regulated by any level of government anywhere," which is sure saying a lot given just how regulated it really is in many nations. As for those who thought they might pass out and faint if their Ethernet cord were cut and their Wi-Fi adapter disabled? Over 70% of respondents in Japan, Mexico and Russia said they could not live without the Internet, and we're guessing that 100% of America agreed. For what it's worth, we're in total agreement for the Internet being a right. Power to the surfers!
