The Digital Divide Is a Human Rights Issue: Advancing Social Inclusion Through Social Work Advocacy

by Cynthia K. Sanders and by Edward Scanlon 12/02/2021

Digital Access Is a Human Rights and Social Justice Issue

According to the United Nations, human rights are inherent to all human beings regardless of their status. Human rights include freedom from slavery and torture, the right to life and liberty, the right to work and education, freedom of opinion and expression, and equality and non-discrimination. Human rights include covenants on civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Under international human rights law, it is incumbent upon nations and states to engage in or refrain from acts in order to promote and protect human rights (UN, n.d.). In recent years, social work’s historic commitment to social justice has been advanced through the promotion of a human rights approach. The human rights approach turns social work’s response to individual human need to a more expansive view that the resources necessary for survival and the development of human potential should be available to all as a right based upon our common humanity. In this view, resources must be distributed broadly within a framework that sees such a dispersal of social goods and resources as necessary for equitable human development and the social inclusion necessary for the development of democratic institutions (Murdach 2011; Wronka 2016). Given the central role that the Internet plays in today’s digital age in gaining access to resources, jobs, health care, and education among others, universal access to broadband clearly falls within the realm of human rights.

Consistent with this approach, we see that around the world, access to high-speed Internet is increasingly seen not just as a convenience, but as a necessity and more recently as a human right. The United Nations has created a comprehensive body of human rights law to which nations can subscribe and people can aspire. The foundations of this body of law are the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Major social work organizations affirm this Declaration including the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW 2012). One of the Council on Social Work Education’s competencies includes advancing human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice (CSWE 2015).

In 2016, an addition was made to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations General Assembly 2016). The United Nations General Assembly declared access to the Internet a basic human right, integral to allowing individuals to “exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression” and emphasizing “access to internet facilitates vast opportunities for affordable and inclusive education.” Additionally, viewed globally, the UN also stressed the importance of “the empowerment of all women and girls” by enhancing their access to information and communication technology (p. 2–3). According to the International Telecommunication Union (2016), while the USA has a small gender gap (2%) in access to the Internet, there is a large gap in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) at 31%.

With the advancement of technology comes the evolution of need. Today, computers and access to and adoption of the Internet impact multiple areas of our lives and have become vital to a wide range of functions from basic tasks like paying bills and shopping, to entertainment and socializing, to staying connected to family and friends. Internet access has become an avenue for finding employment, accessing health care, and pursuing formal education through online degree programs, to searching for information for more informal learning (e.g., how do I unclog my kitchen sink?). Those who lack Internet access are deprived of knowledge that could assist them in obtaining jobs, lower consumer prices, online entertainment, and many other necessities (health care, banking, communication with children’s school and teachers, etc.). Without government support of human rights little progress can be made to incorporate them into policy and practice. The USA has a mixed record on its commitment and actions on human rights (Human Rights Watch 2019). Sadly, while the Internet began as a public investment, which theoretically should support access for all and thus reinforce a human right’s framework to support each human being in realizing their inherent dignity and autonomy, privatization has resulted in the digital divide. Nonetheless, this should not prevent social workers from advancing inclusive policies and practices premised on the integration of human rights to close the divide.

Digital exclusion amounts to social exclusion where lack of information and digital technology negatively impacts personal, political, and economic capabilities. Individuals and communities are socially excluded when for reasons beyond their control, they are unable to participate in the normal activities of society (Burchardt et al. 1999). Everyone should have equal access to the Internet and have the opportunity to interface effectively through universal broadband access and by means of digital literacy training where needed in order to help people use the Internet well. Social work ethics call for social workers to ensure clients’ access to services, as well as to provide culturally competent, inclusive, and affirming services (NASW 2017).

Social workers are committed to promoting social justice and access to resources that allow individuals and communities to more fully meet basic needs, promote well-being, and reach their capabilities in a complicated society. It has become increasingly clear, and during the recent pandemic glaringly obvious, that access to information and communication technology (ICT) and a broadband infrastructure to support it is an essential human right in order to function in today’s society. When millions of people, disproportionately low-income, people of color, Native American and rural residents, find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide, it calls upon social workers to engage in advocacy efforts to advance policy and programs to alleviate the divide.

Social work literature on integrating technology into practice and social work curriculum is on the rise (Belluomini 2017; Perron et al. 2010; Cosner Berzin et al. 2015; Allen et al. 2010; Stuhlmiller and Tolchard 2009; VanDeMark et al. 2010; Youn 2007). However, there is relatively little social work literature on the topic of policy advocacy to close the digital divide (Kuilema 2012; Queiro-Tajalli et al. 2003). At the same time, the US National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has compared broadband access with other vital services and utilities including water and electricity (Pace 2010). A recent publication by NASW (2017), in a joint statement with the Association of Social Work Boards, Council on Social Work Education, and the Clinical Social Work Association on standards for technology in social work practice, acknowledges the importance of technology in enhancing social workers’ ability to engage in social action, develop social policy, and promote social justice (p. 21). They also note the importance of advocating for access to electronic services as part of social workers’ commitment to social justice (p. 26).

Policy Context and Policy Efforts

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 addressed the issue of whether the Federal Government should intervene to prevent the digital divide in broadband services. Section 706 requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to determine whether “advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable fashion” (U.S. Senate Bill 652- Telecommunications Act of 1996). Historically, court rulings have upheld net neutrality prohibiting broadband companies from blocking or slowing the delivery of Internet content to consumers and maintaining the notion that the Internet is as critical as phone service or power (Kang 2016). Net neutrality preserves the FCC’s authority to regulate Internet service providers (ISPs) and the Internet infrastructure to ensure that everyone has equal access. The concept of net neutrality is that all data traffic on a network should be treated indiscriminately and Internet service providers would be restricted from blocking, slowing down, or speeding up delivery of online content at their discretion. The debate surrounding net neutrality is essentially about how Internet service providers should be regulated, or not, and what role government should play in overseeing their network practices (Morton 2019).

The FCC’s National Broadband Plan to promote digital inclusion includes a combination of sufficient broadband service, affordable broadband service, and the availability of opportunities to develop the digital literacy needed to use broadband (Jaeger et al. 2012). However, the FCC and federal communications’ involvement in ensuring Internet access for all continues to be a source of heated debate. President Obama for example offered his view on broadband connectivity in a video from November 10, 2014, which in essence would have resulted in policies that would have radically changed the way that Internet is viewed by the government, resulting in broadband being seen as a public utility (Zeke 2014). In 2015, the FCC released an Open Internet Order with extensive rules to ensure Internet users equal and open access (Ruiz 2015). However, more recent actions under the Trump administration and FCC chairman Ajit Pai include the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order and transparency rule amendments. Taking effect June 11, 2018, this order overturned earlier requirements on net neutrality for Internet service providers and placed primary jurisdiction over Internet service providers’ network management practices under the Federal Trade Commission. Further, it preempted states from enacting similar network restrictions found in the 2015 Open Internet Order (Morton 2019). Nonetheless, 29 states and Puerto Rico responded by introducing net neutrality legislation in 2019 (Morton 2019).

FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, was appointed by President Trump and made repeal of rules and deregulation of the Internet a top priority, suggesting that it would help encourage innovation and help propel the economy (McCabe 2019). Led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Internet company Mozilla, a lawsuit was filed against the FCC and efforts to dismantle net neutrality in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Kang 2019). In October 2019, the federal appeals court upheld the repeal of regulations, but ruled the FCC overstepped by seeking to broadly stop states and local governments from implementing their own net neutrality rules (McCabe 2019). This ruling sets a precedence for the FCC to no longer regulate Internet service providers and diminishes the idea that high-speed Internet delivery should be treated as if it were a public utility. Sadly, this is in stark contrast to the declaration that access to the Internet is a basic human right. Net neutrality is likely to continue to be an ongoing debate at federal, state, and local levels and in the courts.

Recognizing the importance of broadband and the gap that results between resources and opportunities available to those who live in communities with robust networks and those who do not, a number of states are making efforts to close the gap in the absence of adequate federal action. For example, in New York City, OneNYC launched in 2015 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, aimed to provide every resident and business in New York with access to adequate and affordable broadband by 2025 (Nyc.gov 2015). It also focused on providing people with IT and technology skills, as well as providing improved Internet access throughout the city and offered dedicated support to senior citizens and young people and their families. Another example is LinkNYC, which is focusing on repurposing New York’s payphone infrastructure with free Wi-Fi—with at least 7500 payphone kiosks planned for installation by 2025, providing high-speed broadband to residents. The Smart Communities program in Chicago offered digital literacy and other training in low-income neighborhoods. Results demonstrated that more residents accessed job and health care services when a neighborhood-wide intervention to promote broadband use was implemented and confirm that neighborhoods struggling with broadband subscription are important focus areas for inclusive economic development planning (Tomer et al. 2017).

A recent expansive effort is the state of California’s Internet for All Now Act, which attempts to reduce the digital divide for the 5 million California residents who lack access to reliable high-speed Internet services. Recognizing that broadband is a key component in building healthy economies and educational systems and acknowledging that many rural and low-income communities go unserved or underserved in the digital age, California passed the Internet for All Now Act in 2017. Assembly Bill 1665 (the Internet for All Now Act) was introduced in the California State Legislature on February 17, 2017, by Assembly member Eduardo Garcia with multiple joint and coauthor assembly members. The bill allocates $330 million and extends the California Advances Services Fund (CASF) toward broadband deployment in low-income and rural areas by amending sections of the public utility code (California AB No 1665 2017).

The Internet for All Now Act received overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses and moved on to be signed by Governor Jerry Brown on October 15, 2017. The new law took effect on January 1, 2018. The bill package includes funding to expand access to broadband and support for digital literacy programs in communities previously deprived of reliable Internet connection (Wood 2017). California previously had a goal of expanding broadband infrastructure to 98% of California households. The goal of the Internet for All Now Act is to expand this goal to 98% of every geographical region of the state ensuring that rural communities are not left out of expansion efforts. In fact, the law stipulates that infrastructure projects in unserved or underserved regions are to receive funding first. In addition to broadband infrastructure, the bill includes an account directed toward unserved public housing communities. Additionally, money is available through the broadband adoption account to advance digital literacy training, public education, and outreach programs to increase broadband adoption by consumers, in particular those who are low-income, older adults, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption.

California has also been a leader in seeking to maintain net neutrality, approving a law in 2018 that effectively restored the Obama-era federal rules at the state level (McCabe 2019). This law was passed in response to the Restoring Internet Freedom order under the Trump administration and FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, discussed earlier. Unfortunately, the California law is currently being held due to a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department asking a federal judge to block implementation (Castro 2020).

The approach of advancing broadband and reducing the digital divide in California is to encourage public-private partnerships and leverage private investment, maximize available federal funding (such as through the federal Connect America Fund), and administer the CASF to promote the most cost-effective and equitable progress in access to and adoption of the Internet across California. Despite certain limitations, the Internet for All Now Act makes strides toward closing the digital divide in California and advancing inclusion of marginalized groups, particularly low-income and rural residents, thus advancing social and economic justice for Californians in the Digital Age.