It was only last year that the UN finally agreed that access to the Internet is a human right. Furthermore deliberately disconnecting people from accessing the network is a violation against those rights and also against international law. Now of course many might think that the right to browse facebook or flick through an online newspaper a little far from a basic human right, certainly for the huge number of people who have never accessed it at all. However the ruling really is focused on ensuring that the basic human right of freedom of expression exists everywhere irrespective of the medium used.
The idea that the rights in the digital world should be protected to the same extent as the physical world is an important step in the development of the internet. Many countries are beginning to recognise the potential the internet has for global development too. It is important that all citizens of the world have access if at all possible.
There is a growing concern at how access to the internet is being increasingly filtered and censored. Even in UN member states like Cuba and China extensive filtering and selective blocking takes place. The Great Firewall of China blocks many thousands of sites and delivers heavily filtered pages on many subjects. Of course it is possible to circumvent using proxies and VPNs like this site demonstrates - http://thenewproxies.com/, but again this creates a privileged class of people who have either the technical knowledge or resources to pay for such services.
The internet might be taken for granted in many countries, but in places like China,Iran and Syria to name just a few – that right is being controlled and eroded firther every single day.