Is the Internet a fundamental right in Haiti? We want to hear you!

In a study realized by BBC almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right.

The survey - of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries, but not from Haiti - found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide.

Countries such as Finland and Estonia have already ruled that access is a human right for their citizens. International bodies such as the UN are also pushing for universal net access.

"The right to communicate cannot be ignored," Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told BBC News. "The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created." He said that governments must "regard the internet as basic infrastructure - just like roads, waste and water". "We have entered the knowledge society and everyone must have access to participate."

The survey also revealed divisions on the question of government oversight of some aspects of the net. Web users questioned in South Korea and Nigeria felt strongly that governments should never be involved in regulation of the internet. However, a majority of those in China and the many European countries disagreed. In the UK, for example, 55% believed that there was a case for some government regulation of the internet.

The BBC survey found that 87% of internet users felt internet access should be the "fundamental right of all people". More than 70% of non-users felt that they should have access to the net. Overall, almost 79% of those questioned said they either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the description of the internet as a fundamental right - whether they currently had access or not. Countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Turkey most strongly support the idea of net access as a right, the survey found. More than 90% of those surveyed in Turkey, for example, stated that internet access is a fundamental right - more than those in any other European Country.

Haitians, friend of Haiti, we want to hear your comments:

is the Internet a fundamental right in Haiti?

At Multilink, we think that "Like water and electricity, the Internet is essential to the quality of life of people as well as to the success of businesses".

Read the complete article from BBC here