On November 7, Kerala’s Finance Minister Thomas Isaac wrote on Twitter that internet connection has been made a basic right in the state. The cabinet has approved a Rs 1548 crore Kerala

Fibre Optic Network project to provide internet to every household in the state. It would be free for 20 lakh below poverty level (BPL) families.

Internet connection made a basic a citizen right. Kerala cabinet gives final nod for ₹1548 crores Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON)Project to provide Internet to every household in the

state. For 20 lakh BPL households it will be free. The project to be completed by Dec 2020.

same rights that people have offline must also be protected online’.

“Recently, in the Faheema Shirin versus State of Kerala case, the High Court recognised the right to internet as a fundamental freedom. It quoted the UN resolution and said that right to

internet access is a tool to ensure right to education,” says Hrishikesh Bhaskaran, web expert.

Read: How a Kerala student won the fight against restrictions on mobile use in hostel

Arjun Azad, co-founder of the NGO Your Lawyer Friend, that fought Faheema’s case, says, “Our contention was that access to Internet is a part of right to freedom of speech and expression,

right to privacy, right to develop and right to get education. The court didn’t include it under the right to freedom of speech and expression. But it said that it is a fundamental right

because it comes under the right to develop and the right to get educated. The state cannot infringe on your fundamental right.”

They had also quoted an earlier declaration by Thomas Isaac during the budget speech, about making freedom of internet access a human right. “The government proposed to recognise access to

internet as a basic human right, while the court went on to hold that it is a fundamental right,” Arjun adds.

There has been some amount of discussion on the subject, even before. “Vint Cerf, who is known as a Father of Internet, has said that right to internet access can at most be a civil right

but not a human right. He argues that internet is only an enabler of human rights. The argument against it was that food and shelter are also commodities, but those are recognised as human

rights,” Hrishikesh says.

He adds that he sees it as a welcoming move, that Kerala has recognised right to internet access as a basic right and is also implementing it soon. “These are times when governments call for

an internet shutdown when any big development occurs. There was an internet shutdown in Kashmir when Article 370 was abrogated. During the time of the Ayodhya case verdict too, several

places faced internet shutdown. India is one of the countries where internet shutdowns happen the most in the world. But if the right to internet access is recognised as a fundamental or

basic right, it cannot be violated.”

It would also encourage startups and entrepreneurship, he adds.