Report by Eric Null. AccessNow.
April 30, 2020.
Both international and domestic laws recognize that extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures. The COVID-19 pandemic is such an extraordinary circumstance, and it requires that telecommunications companies (“telcos”) and governments take extraordinary measures to ensure that people are not cut off from internet or phone service, often their lifeline to vital resources. To keep people safe and healthy in the context of physical distancing and lockdown measures, governments and telcos must work together to provide everyone, and especially women, girls, and others in under-represented and at-risk communities, access to an affordable, open, secure, stable, and high-speed internet. As COVID-19 continues to spread, governments and telcos around the world are taking a variety of approaches to internet connectivity, some beneficial and some harmful to human rights and public health. In this report, we discuss some of these approaches and provide recommendations to help decision-makers increase connectivity and save lives.
See more