torek, 29. marec 2011

Internet access as a legal right in Finland

The problem of social stratification used to refer to the notion of social classes in society. The society was divided into working class, middle class and upper-class, where social, cultural and economic capital played an important role in determining where someone stands within society. Nowadays scholars often talk about two class society, information rich and information poor.

The information rich have access to information and information technology equipment such as many TV and radio channels, books, newspapers and journals, and of course computers and the World Wide Web. The information rich also have the knowledge to use the technology to obtain information to help them make informed decisions.

The information poor tend to not have access to the Web and probably find it difficult to access relevant books and journals. Even in general conversations a discussion about a TV programme shown on satellite TV will be lost on people who only have 4 or 5 terrestrial channels. The information poor may lack the skills or knowledge to access information.

The gap between the information rich and the information poor is often called the digital divide. It is not a gap between those with lots of money and those without, although money certainly have influence on this division.

The gap can exist between many groups in society such as:

* old and young

* english speaking and non english speaking

* third world and developed world society

* diffierent cultural groups

* rural and urban locations


FINLAND

One of the problems of digital divide is also internet access. And Finland is the first county in the world who made internet access a legal right. From July 2010 telecommunication companies in Finland are required to provide all 5,2 million citizens with internet connection that runs at speeds of at least 1 megabit per second.

Finland was already one of the most wired countries in the world, with 95% of the population having some sort of Internet access.

Enabling people to have internet access is of course a promising start in abolishing the digital gap, but is not enough. People get technical access to the internet, but if they don’t know how to use computers and internet, it doesn’t really change anything. Education is also an important chapter in the problem of digital divide between information rich and information poor. And by education I don’t just mean knowledge how to use computers and internet but also capability to find relevant information, to know how to discriminate between credible sources of information and questionable sources.

Finland certainly made a step forward, will other countries follow its lead?

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