The inventor of the World Wide Web believes internet access should be made a basic human right by governments of the world as billions of people still cannot have online access.
Tim Berners-Lee says the internet can bring about global equality if censorships and surveillance by various governments are curtailed. This was contained in his World Wide Web foundation’s latest report. The report tracked the impact of the internet since he launched the www in 1990.
The Web Index found that laws preventing mass online surveillance are weak or nonexistent in more than 84 percent of countries. It also said that almost 40 percent of surveyed countries were blocking sensitive online content to a “moderate or extreme degree,” and that half of all Web users live in countries that severely restrict their rights online.
According to a FOX News report, Almost 4.4 billion people — most of them in developing countries still have no access to the Internet, the Web Index said.
“It’s time to recognize the Internet as a basic human right,” Berners-Lee said. “That means guaranteeing affordable access for all, ensuring Internet packets are delivered without commercial or political discrimination, and protecting the privacy and freedom of Web users regardless of where they live.”
Denmark, Finland, and Norway were ranked as top overall, meaning they were best at using the Internet for economic, political and social progress. At the bottom of a list of 86 countries were Yemen, Myanmar and Ethiopia.
Berners-Lee was working an engineer at the CERN laboratory in Geneva when he proposed the idea of a World Wide Web in 1989.
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