Contributor: Internet access is a human right

Even to the casual observer, it is probably obvious that modern warfare, both at home and abroad, is changing dramatically. This summer, scenes of a synchronized fleet of Ukrainian drones descending on a field of Russian warplanes underscore how far we have moved away from conventional artillery and infantry operations. It is not only the methods that are changing, but increasingly the objectives. What will follow next will be clandestine remote hacking attacks, powered by AI and targeted (or stray) munitions that will knock out broadband lines and incinerate internet infrastructure. And with the development of data centers and the reach of the Internet continuing to rapidly accelerate around the world, this shift should worry us all, because the main victims of new age digital warfare will be vast civilian populations, and the toll will be catastrophic.

You only need to look at Gaza to understand how damaging these disruptions can be. According to an Access Now reportGaza has experienced at least 27 total or partial internet and telecommunications outages since the Israeli assault on the territory began in October 2023. last stop, last Septemberpreceded an Israeli ground invasion with tanks and infantry.

Whether due to intentional sabotage or negligence, these actions significantly hampered emergency response and the coordination and delivery of services and resources, including food and water. for the besieged Gazans.

Concerns about attacks through or against the Internet are not limited to areas of active conflict. Seventy-five percent of Americans are concerned about the security of the country’s internet infrastructureand it’s not difficult to understand why. In the roughly two decades that the Internet has been more or less ubiquitous in the United States, the technology has gone from being a novelty to becoming an essential part of how we do our jobs, socialize, manage our finances, and stay informed.

For most of us, the idea of ​​an Internet outage is mildly panic-inducing, plunging us into an experience that feels like a temporary loss of one of our senses. But compare that with people in countries facing this new era of attacks on cyberattacks and internet infrastructure, where internet disruptions are a recurring reality. Civilian life, if not the target, is often part of the collateral damage.

Somewhere about 5.5 billion people, or about 68% of the world’s population, now use the Internet. This is more than double what it was ten years ago, with the Internet being essential to the functioning of contemporary society and its institutions. It is used by hospitals and nonprofit organizations to provide health care and social services. It is used by the government to make commercial travel and traffic safer. It helps coordinate the byzantine supply chains that power our economies. It even helps monitor and maintain our communities’ water and energy infrastructure.

Because of the central role of the Internet for even these most basic functions, efforts to deliberately disrupt or terminate access to the Internet clearly reflect human rights violations. And in a growing number of cases around the world, these violations are clearly a matter of life and death. Yet there has been little response from the international community to the growing use of attacks on internet infrastructure in regions plagued by explicit and covert wars.

On several occasions over the past decade, submarine cables have been deliberately cut or sabotaged by antagonistic actors. Last year, two submarine cables in the Baltic Sea, including one connecting Germany and Finland, have been severedprobably by Russian saboteurs. And last March, the submarine peace cable, connecting Africa, Asia and Europe, was cut, causing widespread internet outages in East Africa. No cause has been officially determined.

Last year, many Americans got a taste of how deeply an internet outage could affect our daily lives. A July 2024 global internet outage caused by CrowdStrike failuresa cybersecurity company, affected 26% of American adults. This unintended outage crippled financial services, delayed flights, and caused disruptions to operations at hospitals and businesses around the world. So what happens when bad actors, including our own governments, intentionally target our Internet and threaten our ability to stay connected, with even greater precision and resources at their disposal?

In October 2024, the Taliban instituted a broad internet shutdown in Afghanistan under the dubious pretext of fighting against Internet “abuse”, and restoring it shortly after widespread condemnation. But this is far from the first case where the Internet has been used as a weapon by internal forces. Like Iran, Sudan, Bahrain, Egypt And Syria cut or removed internet access to block protesters, with varying degrees of success.

In a particularly worrying context that could signal broader trends, Russia recently tested a way to cut off its territories from the global Internet. as a means of building its own “sovereign” network – a network that could allow the Kremlin to more directly monitor civilians and crush political dissent.

In 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council officially declared internet access a human right.. But like most of its statements, enforceability and accountability are neither guaranteed nor widely expected. A handful of countries, each with deeply autocratic tendencies – Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and India – have opposed UN amendments to codify the internet as a human right.

To truly make Internet access a human right, it is important that we define precisely what constitutes access, with a clear focus on reliable and sufficiently fast Internet. For example, although 5G was widely available in Israel in 2020the Israeli government has long denied Palestinians access to 4G service, give in to upgrades in 2021 which have not yet come to fruition as they should have.

We must also recognize that human rights are often interrelated, with one being essential to the other. For example, Internet access is increasingly linked to the quality of education, a human right more recognized and adopted globally. According to an international surveyabout 39% of internet users use it for educational or study-related purposes. Internet access is also closely linked to freedom of expression and work, two other vital human rights.

Although it seems unlikely that such violations will occur on American shores, various forms of Internet throttling and indirect censorship are already widespread in the country. Due to ongoing Republican policiesFor example, the United States is behind the times when it comes to net neutrality, a principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally and not subject to the bias and financial spoils of differential access. According to a CNET pollLast year, 42% of U.S. adults reported experiencing unreliable Internet speeds or connectivity, and 63% saw home Internet prices increase.

As digital connectivity increasingly determines access to basic needs, the case for seriously treating internet access as a human right has never been clearer. Like war, our understanding of human rights must evolve over time. This means understanding that in future wars, victory will not only be measured in terms of adversaries eliminated, but also by the extent of the destruction of the Internet infrastructure that supports our societies.

Jerel Ezell directs the Berkeley Center for Cultural Humility and is a sociologist and assistant professor at the University of Chicago Medicine. Sugy Choi is a health services researcher and assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine.