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Name :	O'BRIEN, Laura
Date :	December 15, 2020
Organization :	Access Now
Country :	United States
Job Title :	UN Advocacy Officer
Contribution :	SUMMARY (submission attached) This submission raises three main points to address the CWG-Internet’s first of three questions relating to expanding internet connectivity. First, expanding access to the internet is critical because — as amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic — access to the internet is essential for meaningful participation in daily life. Yet, access to the internet is more than a question about connectivity and coverage areas. Public policies regarding access to the internet must also consider the type and quality of internet accessible, and by whom. Specifically, governments and non-government actors, such as the private sector, must foster a rights-respecting internet underpinned by the principles of universality, openness, security, and affordability, in addition to legislation, policies, and infrastructure, aimed to maintain a resilient and inclusive internet ecosystem. Second, we cannot achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without universal access to affordable, open, secure, and high-quality internet. Similarly, we need to better understand the role technology plays in maintaining systems of exclusion, oppression, and marginalization. Digital inclusion must serve as a vehicle to ensure that all individuals and communities have access to and skills to use the internet irrespective of one’s intersecting identity. Third, expanding connectivity and reaching U.N. targets for internet access is necessary for the realization of all of the SDGs. This online consultation is timely presented in 2020, the target year identified in U.N. SDG 9.C calling for universal and affordable internet access in least developed countries. The shortest deadline captured in SDG 9.C reflects an understanding of the urgent need to bring all people online as a means to enable the realization of other rights and goals as indicated in the overall 2030 agenda. A month away from the end of 2020, it is clear that we will fail to meet SDG 9.C amid a pandemic. Yet, if we do not remobilize political will to expand internet access, we will potentially fail to meet all of the SDGs by 2030.
Attachments :	CWG-Internet-Online Open Consultation - Expanding Internet Connectivity - Access Now - Dec 2020.pdf