Edited by Luke Rong Guang Teoh, Jenna Fung, Zin Myo Htet, Guntur Ramadhan, Phyo Thiri Lwin
In this digital era, we can see how the Internet has become an important tool in our daily life. On the other hand, the Internet allows people to access information, to access communication, and so forth. On the other hand, empowerment is one of the necessities for the people to access everything for their growth and development using Internet technology. In May 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on cultural rights said, “ Since the Internet is essentially a global resource, it is crucial that appropriate Internet governance supports the right of everyone to have access to and use information and communication technologies in self-determined and empowering ways.” regarding the accessible Internet from the empowerment perspective.
Access and empowerment are vital constituents of an inclusive Internet for everyone. Internet access is the initial hurdle that inhibits many people from utilizing the Internet. Hence, access is pivotal to ensure that everyone has a fair chance of using the internet. On the other hand, empowerment enhances the current skill sets and knowledge of an individual. It is tantamount to access as an empowering digital citizen can help nurture and create an inclusive and safe internet for all. We will explore how a lack of access and empowerment has deleterious effects. We will illustrate two examples, namely, the internet restriction issue in Myanmar and the Free Basics by Meta connectivity issue. Both of these issues may be able to provide answers to the question, “Is some internet better than none?”
Internet Shutdown In Myanmar
Myanmar’s military seized control in the early hours of February first, 2021 in a coup that has sparked months of huge demonstrations. Since then, the military junta’s security forces have killed around 550 civilians, including children, in crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters. The junta has put growing restrictions on internet access in an attempt to quell protests, culminating in a near-total internet shut down as of April second, 2021. People have found it incredibly difficult to obtain information, upload protest films, or organize as a result of this. During the coronavirus pandemic, these methods damaged businesses and hampered access to medical information (Januta & Funakoshi, 2021).
We can see the vital role of accessibility in the Internet restriction case in Myanmar. In Myanmar, Internet connectivity is still under control and it is down in some ethnic areas. In the mainland, central and other regions, VPN (Virtual Private Network) is used as an intermediary to access the internet. Social platforms such as Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc. are still used through VPN intermediaries.
It has shown that the initial purpose of internet blackouts in Myanmar is to hinder and slow down the flow of information within the internet community of Myanmar. Secondly, internet restriction prevents the rest of the world from knowing what is happening locally in Myanmar, as social media allows us to quickly share the current situation of our countries. Thirdly, internet restriction is used to erase history and cover up the military dictator’s genocide and other human rights violations.
Internet access is still limited in some parts of Myanmar. Currently, the government is trying to implement a draft of cyber law. In this law, there are some strong limitations like the one who uses the VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) can be arrested by the security forces, and the person who utilizes the digital currency or cryptocurrency can be sued by the national laws. Furthermore, online gambling is also restricted by this law.
Free Connectivity & Its Problems
In the case of Free Basics by Meta (previously known as Facebook), it can be seen that an initiative that was started to help people discover the relevance and benefits of connectivity with free access to basic online services has now raised serious concerns regarding the very reason it was created. Free Basics by Meta was salient as even in areas with internet access, the benefits of being online may not be obvious. Over 89% of the world’s population live in areas with existing 3G or better cellular coverage, but mobile data is frequently expensive and the cost can be difficult to justify. Free basics plan to overcome this by offering access to basic online services without data charges. In theory effectively overcoming the three “A” dilemmas – Affordability, Access, Awareness. However as mentioned before now there are growing concerns regarding this initiative, namely,
- Net-neutrality
- Limited languages
- Bias
- Does not offer the whole internet as advertised
- Free Basics offers the company another treasure trove of data
Network (Net) neutrality is the concept that all data on the internet should be treated equally by corporations, such as internet service providers (ISPs) and governments, regardless of content, user, platform, application, or device. In other words, net neutrality stipulates that service providers should not slow down or block content from users. One example of how this became a big issue is how in 2016, India banned Meta’s Free Basics App to Support Net Neutrality.
Regarding the limited languages, it can be seen that in Ghana, everything is in English, even though other languages, such as Twi and Hausa, are widely spoken. This does not paint a good image of the new ‘global village’ where multilingualism is the norm. We believe that the internet of the future should be an inclusive space where individuals share ideas, opinions, and knowledge using various languages.
Furthermore, only companies that have adapted their code to meet the requirements of the Free Basics platform are available even though they may not meet local needs. In the Mexican version of the app, offered by Telcel, there’s only one local site on the first page: the foundation of the billionaire Carlos Slim, the CEO of Telcel. Bizarrely, the same app also offers two Nigerian websites and a regional news outlet for Argentina.
The other problem is that when a user tries to access information outside of the tiny walled garden, a pop-up appears urging them to buy more data. For example, although Free Basics includes access to the Bing search engine and will show snippets of listings for free, reading any of the results of the search requires payment.
The last concern is that the users’ activities within the app are channeled through Meta’s servers. This means Meta can tell which third-party sites users are looking at, when and for how long. This leaves our private data easily attainable by hackers.
There are some potential solutions for the above cases, they are
- Address the difference between access & accessibility
- Improve Digital literacy
- Create an internet for all
First and foremost, we need to spread more knowledge that access more or less means a way or an approach of “entering a place”, ~ network or infrastructure. Where accessibility refers to the quality of the access, for example, how a person with disabilities access in a user-friendly way to a service/ products. These include improving the quality of websites or apps, especially in terms of how they are designed to suit People with disabilities (PwD).
Additionally, we should ensure that stereotypes of PwD should not be cemented to overcome these problems, digital literacy can help to ensure that content or technology is used in an effective way. For instance, the paucity of digital literacy may leave internet users unaware of when content is produced as misinformation/ disinformation. Especially during the covid-19 pandemic where fake news was rampant. Especially the younger generation, because digital literacy is the first step toward the improvement of accessibility and empowerment.
Lastly, some people are still on the “sidelines” with no internet. Do we want everyone to have the internet? If yes, how do we achieve that? Thus we need to ensure that the internet is affordable, sustainable, and meaningful i.e (Speed, device availability, how often can we use the internet, which locations can we use, and open the Internet free of restrictions). Because we can focus on changing the world with the Internet or keep it just like this. Furthermore, there was research in 2016 that zero reading Internet doesn’t really help bring new people online. People with different devices will have different experiences in accessing the Internet. Some of us who enjoy relatively stable connectivity on a laptop will have a different “internet experience” than someone who is accessing with a mobile device.
In conclusion, we hope that by employing these 3 solutions we can take a few steps closer to the main goal of making the internet more accessible which will empower the internet users to make the world a better and safer place.
References
Facebook – Meld je aan of registreer je. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser
Funakoshi, M., & Januta, A. (2021, April 7). Myanmar’s internet suppression. Retrieved from https://graphics.reuters.com/MYANMAR-POLITICS/INTERNET-RESTRICTION/rlgpdbreepo/.
Internet Society. (2019, January 10). Internet Access for All: A Policy Framework l. Retrieved from https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2016/a-policy-framework-for-enabling-internet-acces/.
Solon, O. (2018, April 20). “It’s digital colonialism”: how Facebook’s free internet service has failed
its users. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/27/facebook-free-basics-developing-markets.
United Nation. (2012, May 18). Internet governance must ensure access for everyone. UN News Global perspective Human stories. Retrieved from http://news.un.org/en/story/2012/05/411292-internet-governance-must-ensure-access-everyone-un-expert.
West, M. D. (2015) Digital divide: Improving Internet access in the developing world through affordable services and diverse content. Centre for developmental innovation at Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/west_internet-access.pdf.