AUGUST 13, 2011 DATE

NR # 2494
REF. NO.

Ensure universal access to Internet - solon

A lawmaker today urged the national government to undertake the necessary steps to ensure universal access to the Internet in light of the United Nations report declaring Internet access as a basic human right. Rep. Raymond Palatino (Party-list, Kabataan), author of House Resolution 1397, said the UN report vastly expands the capacity of individuals to enjoy their right to freedom of opinion and expression, which is an enabler of other human rights. The Internet boosts economic, social and political development and contributes to the progress of humankind as a whole, Palatino said. Citing a United Nations Human Rights Council report, Palatino said facilitating access to the Internet for all individuals, with as little restriction to online content as possible should be a priority of all governments. Universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all States given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, Palatino said. Palatino explained the UN encourages states to support initiatives to ensure that online information can be accessed in a meaningful way by all sectors of the population, including person with disabilities and persons belonging to linguistic minorities. The UN even proposed to include Internet literacy skills in school curricula, conduct trainings to help individuals learn how to protect themselves against harmful content and explain the potential consequences of revealing private information on the Internet, Palatino said. Palatino said the UN emphasizes that there should be as little restriction as possible to the flow of information via the Internet, except in few, exceptional and limited circumstances prescribed by the international human rights law. The report brought attention to content issues such as arbitrary blocking or filtering of content on the Internet, criminalization of legitimate expression, imposition of intermediary liability, disconnecting users from Internet access including on the basis of intellectual property rights law, cyber-attacks, inadequate protection of the right to privacy and data protection, Palatino said. Palatino said the Philippines has 30 million Internet users, 3.6 million of which are connected via broadband services. Yahoo-Nielsens survey showed that Filipinos are able

AUGUST 13, 2011 DATE

NR # 2494
REF. NO.

to access the Internet through Internet cafes. However, the Internet remains to be highly inaccessible to millions of Filipinos due to various reasons, ranging from the sorry state of bandwidth in the country to the exorbitant rates being charged by telecommunications companies for their services, Palatino said. Palatino said TxtPower, a consumer rights group stated that while the Philippines has attained the respected status of a social media capital in the region and in Asia, the governments telecommunications regulatory body, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has failed to follow the lead of telecom regulators worldwide in defining what broadband Internet is, whether delivered via dial-up, wired or wireless connections. The group said, without such a definition, the NTC leaves telcos practically free to hoodwink end-users, including business and the government, regarding broadband Internet services, the cost and pricing and to keep Philippine Internet access among the slowest and most expensive in the region, Palatino said. Palatino said aside from accessibility and connectivity issues, the government, in the past, has committed several interventions and suggested several measures that may be deemed as violations to the right to Internet access and an encroachment on Internet and information technology. Palatino cited the pursuit of the Optical Media Board (OMB) to have hard drives registered the proposed taxation on online activities and the scrapped proposal to put a data cap on broadband users. Palatino stressed that policy-making bodies and Information Communications Technology (ICT) project implementors should undertake improvements in the Philippine ICT sector under the framework that making Internet available to all should be an aid, rather than a replacement, to political forms of social engagement with genuine change and progress as goals. Universal access to the Internet should not be seen as an end in itself, but as a means with which we propel the participation of the people to social development, Palatino said. (30) lvc