Exploring the Nexus between Technologies
and Human Rights
26
region. This could be due to the fact that all of the focus groups were conducted in the
major cities with high Internet penetration. Instead, access was discussed from some
other levels, such as from the point of view of the right to access digital spaces and
services. Sometimes access is blocked by the state in terms of Internet shutdowns or
blocking of websites – an example of the latter was given of Malaysia’s blocking of a fan
fiction website, Fanfiction.net, which is popular among women and gender minorities as
a space to explore creative writing and erotic literature. Sometimes access is not blocked,
but is a result of negligence when entire communities are excluded because technologies
are not designed to accommodate them. For example, automatic teller machines (ATMs)
in Malaysia are currently not designed for the blind, and in the process of phasing out
human bank tellers with ATMs, the blind’s access to banking becomes increasingly
difficult.
Discussions also brought up digital products and services that force the consent of the
users in accepting the terms and conditions before they can access them. An example is
the common practice of having to agree to all of the terms of use when participating on
digital platforms or using certain devices, or otherwise lose access to the benefits offered
by connectivity or a smart phone that one just bought. The principle of the matter is
similar with another example provided by a Philippine respondent on his inability to apply
for a passport, if he did not opt in for a national identity card, which in his perspective
meant that he would have to provide his data in exchange for access to state services.
One more interesting example that arose from the discussions with regards to access
is the case of Free Basics. Free Basics by Facebook is a free service for partial access to
the Internet (to certain designated websites including Facebook) for communities that
did not have access to the Internet before. In Southeast Asia, Free Basics is available in
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Timor Leste13. It was pointed out
in the context of the Philippines that users of Free Basics only read the headlines of links
in their Facebook newsfeed, as they would have to pay to visit the actual pages linked.
The unintended consequence of this partial access is the incentivisation of clickbait and
misleading headlines, fuelling the spread of misinformation, as sensational headlines get
shared even if the content of the article is of low quality or has nothing to do with the
title. This issue falls under net neutrality, which is one of the many ways that the Internet
can be fragmented into connectivity islands through technological developments,
governmental policies, and commercial practices (Drake, Cerf, & Kleinwatchter, 2016).
The next section on governance addresses issues like these.
Governance of the Digital
Beyond working on issues of access and driving digital innovation, the real challenge of
the digital era is the governance of the digital. Digital governance, as defined by Floridi,
13
https://info.internet.org/en/story/where-weve-launched/