New Global Survey Finds Public Stiff-Arming Internet Regulation: Four of Five Adults Believe Internet Access is a "Fundamental Right," Results Show
A poll of 27,000 adults in 26 countries for the BBC World Service showed 78 percent of Internet users believed the Web gave them greater freedom, while nine in 10 said it was a good place to learn. Four in five adults believe access to the Internet is a fundamental right — with those feelings particularly strong in South Korea and China — and half believe it should never be regulated, according to the global survey.
Respondents in the United States were above the average in believing the Internet was a source for greater freedom and they were also more confident than most in expressing their opinions online. "Despite worries about privacy and fraud, people around the world see access to the Internet as their fundamental right," said Doug Miller, the chairman of GlobeScan, which conducted the survey. "They think the Web is a force for good, and most don't want governments to regulate it," he added, Wired reports.
The issue of Internet freedoms hit the headlines earlier this year after Google threatened to quit China, the world's biggest Internet market, over strict censorship rules. Of the 27,000 surveyed, more than half agreed that the "Internet should never be regulated by any level of government anywhere." That belief was particularly strong in South Korea, Nigeria and Mexico while residents in Pakistan, Turkey and China were the least likely to agree, with only 12 percent, 13 percent and 16 percent respectively strongly agreeing, the article reports.
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