Source: BBC News

BBC’s latest global broadband survey shows that more than three-fourths of the people (79%) have a view that broadband internet access is a fundamental right. GlobeScan conducted the poll on behalf of BBC in 26 nations, questioning 27,000 adults for the study.

Among the Internet users who were surveyed, overwhelming 87% told that everyone should have the fundamental right to use internet, while 70% of the people who were denied internet access for various reasons also agreed with similar view.

In countries like Japan, Mexico and Russia, the dependency on internet was so much so that majority ( around 75%) cannot think about a life without it.

When it came to government’s intervention or regulation of the internet, there were two opposing views. Most internet users in South Korea and Nigeria said that government should not be allowed to function as a regulating body on matters of internet.

In UK, majority (55%) and most participants in many European nations were against such view, believed that government has some role to play. For instance, rural broadband projects require government backing and often depend on public funds.

On the negative side, the internet has also become a source of fraud, child online abuse and other such issues which the government (as well as ISPs) would also need to tackle. This aspect was also reflected by many respondents to BBC internet survey, expressing their concerns over online fraud, child online safety, web contents with explicit violence and threat to privacy.

In a few countries like Japan, South Korea and Germany, many users were much concerned over their privacy during internet session.

Overall, many of the respondents admitted that internet has brought a positive change in their lives, while around 80% said that it is the element of freedom that had greatly attracted them towards internet.