[bestbits] Facebook

Mon Sep 28 14:16:01 EDT 2015

This a piece we wrote on this issue:

http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/fictional-internet-policy-is-bad-for-india-good-only-for-facebook-282664.html

On 09/27/2015 01:28 PM, Michael Gurstein wrote:
> And as was argued extensively in WSIS I and (finally) acknowledged in the WSIS +10 non-paper, “access” is not sufficient without the means to effectively use that access.  Without the supports, training, facilities, designs, technologies etc. to actually make use of “access” to accomplish personal and collective goals, arguing for “access” as is being done here is (surprise, surprise) simply a free promo for carriers, ISP’s and those gaining their income from passive data content provision.
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> From: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net [mailto:bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] On Behalf Of parminder
> Sent: September 27, 2015 7:15 AM
> To: bestbits at lists.bestbits.net
> Subject: Re: [bestbits] new initiative from Facebook to coonect the world
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> He and his friends are wrong-- it is not access that is essential for people, it is such access that is 
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> (1) unmediated by economic and political interests, and 
> (2)which is not employed to siphon off micro information which would the key economic resources and level of various kinds of control in the coming times, 
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> and instead puts people and communities in charge of their own lives, which is essential.... The Facebook model fully militates against such empowering access. This model is no more essential to people's connectivity than Monsanto is essential for people's agri- livelihood, and Shell is for people's energy needs. 
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>  Someone should have pointed this out when he spoke. 
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> ... parminder 
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> On Sunday 27 September 2015 07:23 PM, Carolina Rossini wrote:
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> ====forward message ====
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> — I also wanted to make sure that you saw the news about the Connectivity Declaration, which Mark Zuckerberg announced at the UN today.  You can learn more here:  http://connecttheworld.one.org/.  There will also be a Zuckerberg-Bono op-ed in the Times tomorrow on connectivity (pasted below).  -Best, Andy
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>  <https://www.facebook.com/zuck?fref=photo> 
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>  <https://www.facebook.com/zuck> Mark Zuckerberg
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>  <https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102391360451281&set=a.612287952871.2204760.4&type=3&permPage=1> 5 hrs ·   
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> Today I’m speaking at the  <https://www.facebook.com/unitednations> United Nations in New York where I’m going to call for universal internet access to be made a global priority.
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> I’m also kicking off a global call to action in partnership with the  <https://www.facebook.com/ONE> ONE campaign supported by  <https://www.facebook.com/action2015> Action/2015, the <https://www.facebook.com/gatesfoundation> Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the  <https://www.facebook.com/MoIbrahimFoundation> Mo Ibrahim Foundation,  <https://www.facebook.com/savethechildren> Save the Children,  <https://www.facebook.com/TED> TED, the  <https://www.facebook.com/unitednationsfoundation> United Nations Foundation,  <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ushahidi/108316392532530> Ushahidi, Bono,  <https://www.facebook.com/RichardBranson> Richard Branson, <https://www.facebook.com/AriannaHuffington> Arianna Huffington,  <https://www.facebook.com/shakira> Shakira,  <https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei> George Takei,  <https://www.facebook.com/charlizetheron> Charlize Theron, Jimmy Wales and many others. 
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> We have a simple message. Internet access is essential for achieving humanity’s Global Goals.
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> By giving people access to the tools, knowledge and opportunities of the internet, we can give a voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless. We also know that the internet is a vital enabler of jobs, growth and opportunity. And research tells us that for every 10 people connected to the internet, about 1 is lifted out of poverty. 
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> If we connect the more than 4 billion people not yet online, we have a historic opportunity to lift the entire world in the coming decades. Those without internet access cannot share their voices online. But you can. Share your support at  <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?d=AQESN91kD2jYIE842bPdTxRox-JCu80-7ogOvo2o3zmCzfJOo1ZStPkmHz4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.one.org%2Fconnecttheworld&h=5AQEY3jgc&enc=AZPZr0MugmaYrU2LRESBpBe6kSaeY_LgtwjgEhV0FAoM2Lgy_XJUMqvnKdjEZmBxySKLG1nxyEsWnH9gt_-wKFrxOev7CXcyQkVMM6GVt2YHco5rp0UyZYHREWVWDTpGciQ&s=1> www.one.org/connecttheworld 
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>  <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/connecttheworld> #connecttheworld  <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/globalgoals> #globalgoals
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> To Unite the Earth, Connect It
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> By BONO and MARK ZUCKERBERGSEPT. 26, 2015
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> Bono, left, and Mark Zuckerberg.CreditKay Nietfeld/European Pressphoto Agency, left; Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
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>  <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/to-unite-the-earth-connect-it.html?_r=0#story-continues-1> Continue reading the main storyShare This Page
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> SEVENTY years ago, the United Nations was formed as the expression of a simple choice: cooperation instead of war. Humanity would stand as one against conflict, poverty and disease. All the world’s voices would be heard.
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> At least, that was the plan.
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> We’ve come a long way. We’ve halted and reversed the spread of killer diseases, extended life expectancy and raised incomes. We’ve even walked ourselves back from the edge of some global conflicts and catastrophes. But progress has not been evenly distributed. Too many people have been left outside of a mostly urban, mostly Northern success story.
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> Seeing that, world leaders put forth a new set of global goals in New York last week. If we want to build a world where not just some but all get to live in security and prosperity, there’s a lot still to do, as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development signed off on by United Nations member states shows.
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> It lists 17 goals and 169 targets, and one of these, 9(c), is a target that we believe is crucial to accelerate realization of all the others: a commitment to provide Internet connectivity for all by 2020.
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> Today over half the people on this planet don’t have access. That is not good for anyone — not for the disempowered and disconnected, and not for the other half, whose commerce and security depend on having stable societies.
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> An unprecedented array of technologists and activists — from Mo Ibrahim to Bill and Melinda Gates, action/2015, Ushahidi and Sahara Reporters have come together to support a global Connectivity Declaration, pledging their support for the new global goals and connecting the world to opportunity. This needs to become a global movement.
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> In this century, global development and global connectivity are closely linked. If you want to help people feed, heal, educate and employ themselves around the world, we need to connect the world as well. The Internet should not belong to only three billion people, as it does today. It should be seen as a necessity for development, and a tool that makes larger things possible.
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> In Ethiopia and Tanzania, for example, farmers connect to get better prices, track inventory and make mobile insurance payments in case of bad weather. In Nigeria, citizens use  <http://www.yourbudgit.com/about/> BudgIT, a mobile app, to assess whether governments keep their spending promises. The opportunity is especially great for women. Men have significantly more access to the web, but when women get connected, they use technology as a pathway to better education, health, economic status and security. In Guatemala, cellphones inform mothers how to have healthy pregnancies. In Kenya, women receive financial services via their cellphones thanks to the brilliant M-Pesa microfinance scheme.
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> In the last few weeks, we’ve watched desperate refugees seek shelter on the frontiers of Europe. Smartphones have made it possible for those left behind to communicate with loved ones across checkpoints and razor wire. The Internet connected our world in shared grief as a Syrian child’s death on a beach in Turkey came to symbolize every refugee. Social media carried the message and changed not just popular opinion but public policy.
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> It’s one thing to say we should connect the world. The real trick is how.
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> There’s no simple solution or silicon bullet.
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> In many places, increasing connectivity will have to start with extending access to energy. Nine out of 10 rural Africans don’t have electricity. Governments can make the difference. This is why we support initiatives like President Obama’s Power Africa plan and the bipartisan Electrify Africa Act in Congress, as well as the African Development Bank’s investments in renewable energy.
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> Where governments lay the foundation, the private sector can build. Promising efforts are underway to bridge the digital divide. But we know the global community can, and must, do more — and urgently. The  <http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/intel-foundation.html> Intel Foundation’s work in STEM education, Microsoft’s use of technology to advance the Millennium Development Goals and Google’s Project Loon to connect remote locations illustrate how technology leaders are prioritizing this effort, as is Internet.org, Facebook’s contribution to meeting the challenge.
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> More technology companies and entrepreneurs must take more responsibility. Silicon Valley should look beyond itself and act more on issues like education, health care and the refugee crisis. We challenge the tech industry to do far more for those most marginalized, those trapped in poverty, and those beyond or on the edge of the network.
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> All the global goals must be scored — but the goal of connectivity for everyone everywhere will surely hurry this game-that’s-not-a-game to its successful conclusion. Hurry being the operative word here.
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> Bono is the lead singer of the band U2 and a founder of the advocacy group ONE and its division (RED). Mark Zuckerberg is the founder and chief executive of Facebook.
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> ———
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> Andy O’Connell
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> Global Policy Development
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> Facebook
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> Washington, DC
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