The right to internet: A paradoxically expensive fundamental right
In the age of Information and Communication Technology, the internet is a necessity, much like clean water, electricity, and roads.
In fact, the United Nations recognised internet access as a human right in 2016, highlighting its critical role in empowering people. By this time, internet has become an enabler of services related to education, health, disaster management, good governance and so on.
In a country like India which has the world's largest population, considering the diversity and complexity of the demographic and geographic factors, the internet is crucial, complex and costly. To understand whether the right to internet is an expensive right, it is important to analyse both the constitutional foundations and cost of implementation associated with its application in a diverse society.
Even though the Constitution does not clearly mention the internet, the Judiciary has progressively ascertained the right to internet is a fundamental right by establishing a constitutional backing for it.
The Kerala High Court in Faheema Shirin Vs State of Kerala acknowledged that the right to internet forms part of the right to education and right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Anuradha Bhasin Vs Union of India judgement reassured this by ruling against indefinite and frequent internet shutdowns highlighting internet access as integral to fundamental rights.
The Supreme Court of India ruled on January 10, 2020, that the Internet is a necessary platform for conducting trade and commerce as well as exercising the right to free speech and expression.
The paradox
In India, providing universal internet access across the country is expensive and the economic challenges emerge from the need for comprehensive infrastructure development, operational issues, digital literacy initiatives and affordability issues. The tribal regions, remote villages and hilly terrains are often geographically challenging due to logistical difficulties and network problems.
In contrast to 67% of people in cities, only 31% of people in rural areas utilise the internet, according to the India Development Review. Ensuring consistent electricity supply, laying fibre optic cables and erecting mobile towers in these geographically challenging areas necessitate significant investments.
In order to bridge this divide, the government initiative such as BharatNet are making efforts but challenges remain due to infrastructural and technical constraints. With the BharatNet initiative, only 1.99 lakh villages (30.4%) out of 6.5 lakh villages had internet connections as of January 2025.
Apart from the physical infrastructure, operational challenges including network connectivity issues, adverse climatic conditions and lack of sufficient electronic readiness are also acting as hindrances. The digital divide pertaining to tribal population, elderly, women and economically disadvantaged groups needs to be taken into consideration.
Availability of the website content in the regional language or mother tongue also facilitates the right to internet. But when it comes to the tribal population, providing the digital content in their own language may pose challenges as most of the tribal languages do not have written scripts. In order to guarantee the right to the internet, how can these sections be given linguistic justice? One may argue that their right to the internet is infringed by default!
Though India enjoys some of the lowest tariffs globally even monthly cost for data packs or the price of smartphones can be prohibitive for those below the poverty line. Ensuring affordability for all in a developing society that has considerable degree of socio-economic disparities remains an almost insurmountable challenge.
Here lies the paradoxical status of the right to internet—ensuring the right to internet is expensive, but its denial exacerbates already existing and makes the cost of digital exclusion that much greater!
During the pandemic period, the education divide emerging from digital exclusion was very much visible among the rural and tribal children. COVID-19 made it clear that right to education could be effectively ensured when there is reliable access to the internet.
The right to internet has become imperative as a fundamental right in guaranteeing other fundamental rights also. This citizens’ right to services will be curtailed if there is no proper access to the internet.
For example, a farmer might not be in a position to access market information, weather forecast, digital payments and government schemes if there is a digital exclusion. Similarly health services that are being increasingly delivered through online pathways become inaccessible leading to poor health outcomes.
Denying internet access paves the way for political and social exclusion of citizens in the cyber world when online mobilisation/ advocacy and governance transparency matter a lot. This leads to the violation of Article 14 (Right to Equality) , Article 19 (freedom of Speech and Expression) and Article 21 (Right to life with dignity).
How can the paradox be resolved ?
Since the Supreme Court recognised the right to internet as a fundamental right, the denial of the same can be questioned on judicial grounds. Programs like BharatNet need to reach more people, greater funding and partnerships with private and civil society actors to cover tribal and rural areas.
Innovations like satellite internet can complement the conventional infrastructure. Accessibility and affordability can be ensured through providing subsidies, setting up community internet centres and free or low cost internet access in libraries, schools, health centres and other public institutions.
The globalised era is characterized by public private partnerships and network governance. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives can be used for this purpose, especially targeting marginalised groups.
Along with these moves, popularisation of digital literacy is needed for ensuring the right to internet.
Approximately 37% of Indians are digitally literate as of 2023, according to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023–24 reports that the literacy rate for people seven years of age and older in India is 80.9%. Even then, there are still gaps—with male literacy at 87.2% and female literacy at 74.6% as well as a notable urban-rural divide of 88.9% in urban areas and 77.5% in rural ones.
Governance should incorporate a network approach comprising of community based organisations, panchayat bodies, NGOs and academia in order to ensure that the spread of technology is participatory and inclusive in nature.
The right to internet is undoubtedly expensive but it is more expensive to deny it. There should be innovative policymaking and collaborative governance to make internet an accessible reality. When communities are denied access to internet, they become deprived of information, services and democratic expressions.
Moreover, the right to education guaranteed under article 21A of the constitution has become inextricably linked to digital connectivity. It can be concluded that the violation of the right to internet results in the violation of multiple fundamental rights simultaneously.
Despite the significant financial expenses associated with universal internet access, the wider democratic and developmental consequences of exclusion make it imperative that the right to internet be operationalised with more time bound and coordinated effort.