Has Internet access become a civil rights issue?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/09/05/digital.divide.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Many more white children use the Internet than do Hispanic and black students, a reminder that going online is hardly a way of life for everyone.

Two of every three white students -- 67 percent -- use the Internet, but less than half of blacks and Hispanics do, according to federal data released Tuesday. For Hispanics the figure is 44 percent; for blacks, it's 47 percent.

"This creates incredible barriers for minorities," said Mark Lloyd, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an expert on how communications influence civil rights.

Not using the Internet "narrows their ability to even think about the kind of work they can be doing," Lloyd said. "It doesn't prepare them for a world in which they're going to be expected to know how to do these things."

--snip---


So, the question is, have we reached a point in our society where equality means providing Internet access to all people? And can we accomplish this, or at least assuage the problem, by providing wireless Internet access to entire cities, as they do in Philadelphia?

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. I expect it is about economic class, not race

A subtle difference, perhaps, but still significant.

[Double T]

2. Many libraries have computers and internet access that is free......

making internet access available to almost ALL.

[Why Syzygy]

3. They don't have computers do they?

Start at point A. There are many free wifis. I do not want the government involved in internet regulation. No Way No How.

[Not Me]

4. I just read a report that painted a much brighter picture

See: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006065

The upshot is that schools and libraries are providing children from lower income families access to computers/internet and closing the digital divide that was much more pervasive just 4-5 years ago.

[Finder]

5. No, but I agree it is an economical issue...

and free access should be provided in public libraries. That said, the commercial nature of the net today will open it up to being available to all in the next decade.