Lessons from Digital India for the Right to Internet Access

TL;DR

This paper advocates for recognizing Internet access as a fundamental right in India, highlighting the digital divide and proposing legislative measures to ensure equitable, safe, and affordable Internet for all.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the Indian Internet divide, discusses ethical arguments for a right to Internet, and advocates for legislative action to establish this right.

Findings

Significant Internet divide across gender and city types in India

Legal recognition of Internet as a fundamental right can reduce digital inequality

Learnings from India inform global debates on digital rights

Abstract

With only 65% of Indian houses having access to the Internet, digital India faces a significant Internet divide across gender and city types. Rendering essential services inaccessible to almost a third of the population necessitates not only provisioning a fundamental right to Internet access but taking specific constructive steps to assure its simple, affordable and safe accessibility. Establishing such a right would also pave way for other ancillary rights required for data privacy, protection from Internet's possible harms and the requirement to be treated fairly. We first discuss two arguments on the universal right to Internet access; from Merten Reglitz, a senior lecturer on Global Ethics and from Vincent Cerf, one of the founding creators of the Internet who has had a profound influence on the field. We specifically argue why Internet access should be treated as a fundamental right. We discuss the learnings from India, contextualizing them with the global debate and argue for establishing Internet access as a fundamental right in India and elsewhere in the form of government legislation to eliminate Internet divide.