Internet access should be a basic right, says Tim-Berners Lee

Apart from calling on the government to make the change, he also called on the companies to make technology useful and inclusive.

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the Internet, says that consumers should "just say no" to initiatives such as Facebook's Free Basics (formerly known as Internet.org) because programs like that are not the full internet (File photo)

World Wide Web inventor Tim-Berners Lee in a post on the internet's 32nd anniversary said that governments must scale up the investment in the technological sector to ensure that everyone has access to ‘meaningful internet connection with speed, data and devices they need to make the most of the web.' He said that this is needed to ensure that young people do not fall through the cracks.

“By giving billions more people tools to learn, earn, and create, this down payment for future generations would deliver incredible returns in the form of economic growth and social empowerment. It's estimated that a 10% increase in the number of people online translates to a 2% lift in an economy's GDP, and new analysis finds that achieving universal broadband in the developing world by 2030 would deliver around $8.7 trillion in direct economic benefits,” Lee wrote in his post.

Apart from calling on the government to make the change, he also called on the companies to make technology useful and inclusive.

“How products and services are designed helps determine whether or not young people can use them safely and effectively...Tech companies must understand the unique experiences and needs of young people and work with them to co-create products and services that respect their rights,” he wrote.

“And governments need to pass effective laws that govern technology and hold companies to account for creating responsible products and services,” he added.

In his post, Lee stressed on the fact that internet access was a basic right and that we must work to ensure that all young people have all the tools that they need to shape their world.

“As we did with electricity last century, we must recognise internet access as a basic right and we must work to make sure all young people can connect to a web that gives them the power to shape their world,” the WWW founder noted in his post.