Internet access matters – will Facebook or India provide it?

Prevention of communication constitutes exclusion from society. Access to online services should be protected in the same way water and electricity are

Last week, 63 million people were cut off from internet and mobile phone access in Gujarat, India. This didn't stop Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi proclaiming over the weekend that communications access and, in particular, internet access, is the next important step in development. Modi didn't seem bothered by the fact that, following mass demonstrations, a population the size of the UK lost all phone and internet communications for the second time in less than a month. The world barely noticed.

India is not alone. In Syria, the internet is used as a weapon of war - the disconnection of communications plays a central role in the conflict. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, similarly, connections were cut following mass demonstrations against the government.