A Human Rights Debate Reaches the FCC

[Commentary] Over the past two weeks, a debate at least three years old has reached the Federal Communications Commission: Does everyone have a fundamental right to access the Internet? That is -- Is Internet access a human right?

Strong arguments, it appears, can be made in a philosophical debate about Internet access as a human right. Although Vinton Cerf’s op-ed may be one the strongest arguments backing FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly’s recent stance, Cerf also highlights why Commissioner O’Rielly’s speech was so surprising. As he himself stressed in the same speech in June, Commissioner O'Rielly, as an FCC Commissioner, must follow the law. And, as Commissioner Clyburn noted in her response, Congress has directed the FCC to ensure that everyone, regardless of income, has access to advanced communications services. Congress also directed that such access should be affordable. Which means that Congress mandated closing the digital divide highlighted above. So why would a Commissioner O'Rielly basic principle for regulators be that Internet access isn’t a human right when Congress has already made it a civil right?