In November 2007, The Pew Internet & American Life Project surveyed attendees at the second Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro to find out their views on how governments and other regulators should structure policy about the internet, amongst other things.
The results?
- Respondents indicated strong support for the establishment of a global internet users’ Bill of Rights. 66% of those participating in this survey agreed with the statement: “A global internet users’ Bill of Rights should be adopted.” 6% disagreed.
- 76% of respondents supported freedom of information as a core ethic of online life and 75% agreed that such a policy ensuring freedom of expression on the internet should be adopted.
- 62% of respondents said they believe content controls weaken the Internet.
- By a 59%-28% margin, they disagreed with the statement, “My country should have the right to approve the internet content available to the people of my country.”
- Even more disagreed (63%) that a commercial internet service provider should have the right to control content.
See more of the findings here (PDF).
I like the idea of an Internet Bill of Rights. I’ll have to do some reading on the subject. This site looks like a good start.
4 comments
Anonymous says:
Sep 1, 2008
Hey, that’s a nice idea and we needed that! Just suggesting how about a global internet bill of rights for teenagers? Teenagers at the age of 15+ can sign up to an isp without being subjected to scrutiny, like they don’t have to be asked for their age and they don’t require any consent from a parent. I would strongly propose and love that to be law! What do ya reckon? Is it a good idea? I hope some teenagers here will read this.
Mike says:
Sep 2, 2008
Well I don’t know how beneficial that would be for teenagers because many would already have an Internet connection at home. They could probably already do it now quite easily with prepaid Internet.
Richard says:
Sep 4, 2008
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This noble gesture has been ignored by everyone since then, albiet with occasional nods in it’s direction.
To put non-to-fine a point on it, if the powers of this world cannot agree enshrine, and enforce your right to not be murdered by the Goverment, then your right to unfettered access to the net seems a poor second runner up.
Recent Links Tagged With "rights" - JabberTags says:
Oct 7, 2008
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