Posted on 06/04/2011 4:34:05 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan
The Internet is a fundamental human right, a United Nations report released on Friday proclaims -- a statement that resonates all the more in the wake of the recent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the ongoing uprisings and protests in the Middle East and North Africa. The Internet, and sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, played a huge role in helping protesters organize and spread information, and also in spreading the word about what was going on around the world.
Says the UN report on the "promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression":
The Special Rapporteur underscores the unique and transformative nature of the Internet not only to enable individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, but also a range of other human rights, and to promote the progress of society as a whole."
On the very day of the UN's announcement, two-thirds of the Internet access went out in Syria. It's a move that suggests the government's continuing efforts to clamp down months of protests by asserting its authority, often brutally -- and yet Friday also saw some of the biggest protests yet, with 50,000 reportedly marching in the city of Hama.
When Egypt's now-ousted president Hosni Mubarak cut off the Internet, there was international outcry. Mubarak and other former senior officials now face $34 million in fines for the Internet blackout, a harsh reminder to dictators that, if you cut off access, you will have to pay.
Indeed the UN report highlights the recent pro-democracy protests in the Arab world:
[T]he recent wave of demonstrations in countries across the Middle East and North African region has shown the key role that the Internet can play in mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights," the report notes. "As such, facilitating access to the Internet for all individuals, with as little restriction to online content as possible, should be a priority for all States.
The Atlantic points out that some other countries, including Estonia, France and Costa Rica have already passed laws declaring Internet access a fundamental human right. Finland's law even goes so far as to specify broadband speed:
In 2009, Finland, the report notes, "passed a decree ... stating that every Internet connection needs to have a speed of at least one Megabit per second (broadband level)." There, should they need to, people will be able to organize even faster.
On a somewhat lighter note, it's possible the UN's resolution could cause parents a bit of a headache. Just wait till we hear reports of a teenager protesting Mom and Dad for deprivation of his "fundamental human right" because he's been grounded by not being able to use the computer.
It’s time for the US to run the UN outta here! They are nothing but a big, money munching pain in the ass with no respect for any country’s sovereignty. The UN has gotta go.
So babies don’t have a right to life, but we all have a right to the internet. Makes sense to liberals, I guess.
If rights are god-given, then I guess that makes Algore god. /sarc
So they can redistribute wealth to provide it for those who are less fortunate.
What a sick joke the U.N. is.
Did they ever declare fax machines to be a "fundamental human right" ?
Did they ever declare radio to be a "fundamental human right" ?
Did they ever declare the telephone to be a "fundamental human right" ?
Did they ever declare telegraphs to be a "fundamental human right" ?
Did they ever declare newspapers to be a "fundamental human right" ?
If I don't pay my Verizon bill, does that mean that Verizon will be depriving me of my "fundamental human rights"? Which parts of the Internet are "fundamental human rights" ?
Is FTP a "fundamental human right" ?
Is e-mail a "fundamental human right" ?
Is HTTP a "fundamental human right" ?
How about PING?
How about DNS?
There's a dozen others I have forgotten, are they all "fundamental human rights" ?
RACISM!
Okay. So Water is not a basic human right, but the Internet is?
http://freethoughtmanifesto.blogspot.com/2008/03/right-to-water-not-basic-human-right.html
“Federal officials in Canada said last week that the government wanted to ensure the meeting’s outcome reflected the fact that access to water is not formally recognized as a human right in international law.”
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Ever since the UN came into existence in 1945, some Americans have been warning us about its potential threat to our national sovereignty. For decades, those individuals have been dismissed and castigated as isolationists, ideologues and right-wing kooks.
But today, there can be no mistake about the UN’s true agenda, its plans for American sovereignty in particular and the concept of national sovereignty in general.
Consider the following principles set forth by the Charter for Global Democracy, and/or endorsed by Kofi Annan in his September 2000 report to the UN Millennium Assembly:
Regulation by the UN of all transnational corporations and financial institutions
Independent taxing authority to “ensure that the Organization is given the necessary resources to carry out its mandate."
Elimination of veto power and permanent member status of the Security Council (thus eliminating the ability of the US to veto UN action).
Authorization for a standing UN army
UN registration of all arms and the reduction of all national armies.
Compulsory submission of all nations to jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
The requirement that individual and national submit to compliance with all UN "Human Rights" treaties. Among these so-called human rights – as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which the United States is a signatory – are the following:
o A requirement for a total welfare-state economy: “the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
o UN-mandated control of schools and educational content: “elementary education shall be free and compulsory.”
I completely reject the idea that human liberty and prosperity can be enhanced by giving the UN or any global government such sweeping power over the nations of the world, including our own. As American citizens, we cannot achieve peace and justice by distancing ourselves even further from the source of government policy making and law enforcement.
Total+BS, they want to have you pay to install it in mud huts all over the world, right beside the slop bucket.
Good, when do they take over my comcast payments.......
Makes sense, don't it?
Sheesh!
Exactly. Americans have subsidized that rats’ nest for too long. It’s time for somebody else to do it and give the American taxpayers a break.
Those TV commercials for free mobile phone service say that it is my Constitutional right to have a phone. If it is on TV, it must be true.
More to the point, they want money to provide that “right.” Every UN swindle works down to money - mostly provided by the poor US taxpayer.
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