The case for the right to meaningful access to the internet as a human right in international law

Abstract

The Internet and human rights have become an inseparable pair in recent scholarly and legal policy literature. This literature has predominantly focused on the importance of the Internet for realising the right to freedom of expression, including the right to receive and impart information, and the risks that internet communication entails for the effective protection and enjoyment of other human rights, such as the right to privacy, children’s rights and non-discrimination, be they in the fields of hate speech, child pornography or trafficking. The state regulation of internet access, either through policies of restricted access or censorship, or, indeed, through non-regulation by leaving this to internet service providers or tech companies, has also receive sustained attention in legislative responses, judicial decisions across jurisdictions and supranationally.