Internet freedom

Internet freedom is an umbrella term that encompasses digital rights, freedom of information, the right to Internet access, freedom from Internet censorship, and net neutrality.[1][2][3][4][5] Internet freedom impacts everyone that uses the Internet. People use it to voice their opinions on topics that they are passionate about. This is where digital rights come into play. People should be able to express what they are passionate about on the internet, and it is just as important that we have freedom of information which allows anyone to look up anything they like. If this wasn't here, imagine writing a paper and not having access to the information online that you need. With internet freedom, the government or service providers can't censor information.

The Obama administration worked on making Internet freedom a human right. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed for this in 2010 tried to put it on the agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Council. However, not everyone thinks this way. Some people believe that Internet freedom is not a human right.[6] They think this because putting something like Internet freedom as a human right could weaken what human rights stand for. Going along with this, people pay for, own, and operate these servers and saying someone has a right to them which makes it a claim of entitlement. Countries such as China and Russia limit what their citizens can watch and view on the Internet.[7] [8]

For the past decade Net neutrality has been discussed and whether it should stay the same.

"In June 2012, it was declared a human right by the United Nations Human Rights Council." [9] Some countries have attempted to ban certain sites and or words that would limit internet freedom. "Since the 1990s, European regulators have held American technology firms to higher standards of privacy and competition than American regulators have required them. European regulators have also sought to eliminate from their networks hate speech that is tolerated by the First Amendment but is illegal in Europe."[10] In the United States, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech even on the internet. As long as statements are not slanderous, they can be posted to the internet legally.

In today's society, more and more fake information is being posted online prompting many people to not believe what they read on the internet. This is troublesome because many people today use the Internet for their daily news and weather, as opposed to television. This change has continued throughout the past decade and will continue to increase. It allows for the increased flow of information and allows information to be obtained faster than ever before. Events such as elections and disasters are known about within seconds rather than hours or days. Not everywhere relishes in the luxury though. "The People's Republic of China (PRC) has the world's largest number of Internet users, estimated at 330 million people, including 70 million bloggers. It also has one of the most sophisticated and aggressive Internet censorship and control regimes in the world.[11].