Could the Internet eradicate poverty?
In a speech at the UN in New York on Saturday,聽Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described what he believes to be the solution to poverty: the Internet.
Mr. Zuckerberg聽called for , announcing a partnership between Facebook and the UN to bring Internet access to refugee camps, CNN reported.
鈥淎 鈥榣ike鈥� or a post won鈥檛 stop a tank or a bullet, but when people are connected, we have a chance to with a shared understanding,鈥� Zuckerberg told the UN private sector forum, the Indian Express reported. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a powerful force.鈥�
According to the United Nations, some聽聽live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.25 a day. These rates have been cut in half since the 1990s, the UN reports.聽
The UN's partnership with Facebook is part of the organization's larger plan to eliminate poverty by 2030. As the world leaders committed to on Friday, eliminating world poverty includes improving access to resources.
鈥淏y 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of 13 property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance,鈥� the UN initiative states.
Equal rights and access to appropriate new technology includes internet access. Yet Zuckerberg鈥檚 goal is a bit more ambitious. Within the next five years, Zuckerberg along with Microsoft鈥檚 Bill Gates and other tech leaders plan to bring the Internet to everyone in the world.
Together the two tech leaders have partnered with one.org, the 鈥溾�� which recognizes the 鈥渋ndispensable role the internet plays in creating jobs and opportunities, enabling access to essential public services, advancing human rights and justice, and ensuring government transparency and accountability.鈥� The declaration calls on governments and innovators to help make worldwide access a reality.
"By giving people access to the tools, knowledge and opportunities of the Internet, we can and power to the powerless," Zuckerberg wrote in a recent post on his Facebook page.
For Zuckerberg, universal Internet access is a 鈥済lobal priority.鈥� In 2013, Zuckerberg launched , an 鈥渋nitiative bringing together technology leaders, nonprofits, and local communities to connect the two thirds of the world that doesn鈥檛 have internet access.鈥�
The website cites that only one out of every three people worldwide can go online. 鈥淭he more we connect, the better it gets,鈥� says the initiative.
Some have criticized Zuckerberg and Facebook though, pointing out that Facebook will benefit from increased internet access, giving the company broader reach.
鈥淔acebook has proven over and over again that its goal is to make our personal lives less private. With the recent expansion of the Internet.org platform, what has evolved is an . The company is asking Internet.org users to give up their privacy and freedom of choice,鈥� Rafael Laguna, chief executive of collaboration software provider Open-Xchange, told Venture Beat.
Furthermore, critics say the internet.org program violates 鈥渘et neutrality, providing limited access to sites and controlling what users can view online,鈥� reports . In an written in May, human rights organizations and tech companies alike pointed out several concerns with Zuckerberg鈥檚 approach, though they maintained support for the overall goal of 鈥渂ringing affordable Internet access to the two-thirds of the world who currently lack it.鈥�
Canada, Germany, Sweden and the US have committed about to achieving the goal of global internet access.
