Right of access to the internet - global approaches

This chapter examines the underlying debate related with human rights and the singular features of the internet as a general-purpose technology. It discusses the different approaches to internet access and its contemporary threats, to frame the characteristics of the rights at stake when approaching access to the internet from a global perspective. The chapter addresses some national approaches to contextualise the implementation of this issue. It explores the different dimensions of access. One theoretical discussion that frames access rights to the internet questions its nature as that of a public good. The chapter examines the challenges that internet access faces from a public goods perspective and also discusses the human rights arguments about internet access are challenged from the different theoretical approaches. The starting point of the current challenges to attain global internet access for all citizens is related with the deployment of networks, both fixed and mobile.