2019 – Posted in: Daily News

Right to Access to the Internet

For: Mains

Topics covered:

Right to Access to the Internet
Kerala High Court Judgment
Digital Inequality

News Flash

The High court of Kerala held that the right to have access to the Internet is part of the fundamental right to education and the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Court also said that the restriction on use of Internet would be completely out of place in the modern world and that such restrictions cannot be imposed even at the request of parents as college-going students are adults.
The verdict came on a petition filed by a Kozhikode college student challenging her expulsion for not adhering to restrictions on the use of mobile phone.

Highlights

The ruling was given by justice PV Asha.
The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has found that the right of access to the Internet is a fundamental freedom and a tool to ensure right to education
Any rule or instruction which impairs the above-said right of the students cannot be permitted.
Petitioner contended that the restriction on the use of mobile phones amounted to a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Other related verdicts

The observations of the Supreme Court in the S.Rengarajan and others v. P. Jagjivan Ram (1989) case said “the fundamental freedom under Article 19(1)(a) can be reasonably restricted only for the purposes mentioned in Article 19(2) and the restriction must be justified on the anvil of necessity and not the quicksand of convenience or expediency”.

Digital Inequality

In recent times, several governments and private sector services have become digital.
This leads to a new kind of inequality, digital inequality, where social and economic backwardness is exacerbated due to information poverty, lack of infrastructure, and lack of digital literacy.
According to the Deloitte report, ‘Digital India: Unlocking the Trillion Dollar Opportunity’, in mid-2016, digital literacy in India was less than 10%.
In a global economy, knowledge of digital processes will transform the way in which people work, collaborate, consume information, and entertain themselves.
Digital transformation has been acknowledged in the Sustainable Development Goals as well as by the Indian government and has led to the Digital India mission.

Importance of digital literacy

Digital literacy allows people to access information and services, collaborate, and navigate socio-cultural networks.

Source: The Hindu