Jack Barry Authors Article on the Importance of Internet Access During a Pandemic

Jack Barry, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Center for Public Interest Communications post-doctoral research associate, is the author of “COVID-19 Exposes Why Access to the Internet is a Human Right” published on openglobalrights.org on May 26.

In the article, Barry writes about internet access, or the lack of, during the COVID-19 pandemic.  He claims that lack of access to information could be the difference between life and death during this crisis.

According to Barry, “My research shows that internet access should be a human right provided by the government as without it, other human rights—including the right to work and the right to basic education—cannot be adequately realized. Overwhelmingly, studies around the world show that internet access is now vital for access to jobs, to education, for improving worker rights, and to ensure freedom of expression and access to information.”

He advocates that governments must take a more proactive role and provide more avenues for low income people to get access.

“I argue that it is vital that the digital divide not be considered in simple terms of an access or no access binary; instead, essentially it is really a ‘gradations of access’ divide affected by the type of language one uses, educational levels, income, and level of technology available,” said Barry. “In other words, the digital divide is multifaceted, as must be the approach to combat it.”

Posted: May 27, 2020
Category: Center for Public Interest Communications, College News
Tagged as: Jack Barry