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Why There Can Be a Human Right to Internet Access

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Why There Can Be a Human Right to Internet Access WHY THERE CAN BE A HUMAN RIGHT TO INTERNET ACCESS Zhengyue Huang A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of MPhil at the University of St Andrews 2019 Full metadata for this thesis is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17802 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 Why There Can Be a Human Right to Internet Access Zhengyue Huang This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) at the University of St Andrews February 2019 Candidate's declaration I, Zhengyue Huang, do hereby certify that this thesis, submitted for the degree of MPhil, which is approximately 36,000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for any degree. I was admitted as a research student at the University of St Andrews in September 2016. I confirm that no funding was received for this work. Date 13 Feb 2019 Signature of candidate Supervisor's declaration I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of MPhil in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date 13 Feb 2019 Signature of supervisor Permission for publication In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand, unless exempt by an award of an embargo as requested below, that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that this thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use and that the library has the right to migrate this thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I, Zhengyue Huang, confirm that my thesis does not contain any third-party material that requires copyright clearance. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: Printed copy No embargo on print copy. Electronic copy No embargo on electronic copy. Date 13 Feb 2019 Signature of candidate Date 13 Feb 2019 Signature of supervisor Underpinning Research Data or Digital Outputs Candidate's declaration I, Zhengyue Huang, hereby certify that no requirements to deposit original research data or digital outputs apply to this thesis and that, where appropriate, secondary data used have been referenced in the full text of my thesis. Date 13 Feb 2019 Signature of candidate Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................... ii I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Legal Overview..................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Naturalism............................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Preview ............................................................................................................................... 14 II. A Naturalism of Human Rights................................................................................................ 17 2.1 Anachronism and Historical Contingency.......................................................................... 19 2.2 Extant solutions................................................................................................................... 24 2.3 ‘Lifestyle’............................................................................................................................ 28 2.4 Harm ................................................................................................................................... 33 2.5 A Theory of Natural Human Rights.................................................................................... 42 III. The Reality and Possibility ..................................................................................................... 53 3.1 Why a Human Right to Internet Access ............................................................................. 54 3.2 What It May Be................................................................................................................... 59 3.3 Summary............................................................................................................................. 66 IV. Complications......................................................................................................................... 67 4.1 ‘No need to get more particular’......................................................................................... 67 4.2 On universality under Theory Alpha .................................................................................. 72 4.3 On relativism of human rights ............................................................................................ 83 4.4 On claimability under Theory Alpha .................................................................................. 90 4.5 How to determine basic Lifestyles...................................................................................... 96 4.6 The problem of luck............................................................................................................ 99 VI. Final Remarks....................................................................................................................... 106 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 109 Abstract In this dissertation, I argue that it is possible to claim a standalone natural human right to internet access. The central argument is in Chapter II. I start my argument by analysing the issue of trans-historical universality of human rights. Human rights are traditionally defined as rights possessed by all human beings in all places at all times. It is claimed that if a human right to X was not possible in the past due to X having been unavailable at that past time, then — on pain of contradicting the universality of human rights — there cannot be a human right to X now, and such human right claim is invalid. If the internet as a historically contingent invention was not available in the past, then there cannot be a human right to internet access. I refute this challenge in chapter II, particularly in section 2.1 and 2.3. On this basis, I develop a framework based on the concept ‘harm’ which I call Theory Alpha. I argue that Theory Alpha, with its Human Rights Generation Conditionals, provides a philosophical ground to justify human rights such as a right to internet access in a naturalistic approach. Chapter III, by reflecting on the current world, provides some reasons why a human right to internet access is possible according to Theory Alpha. Chapter IV addresses potential objections and issues regarding my Theory Alpha. Particularly, section 4.2 deals with how Theory Alpha would solve the issue concerning universality of human rights. I provide a more detailed preview of the dissertation in section 1.3. I conclude that Theory Alpha provides satisfactory answers to some important questions about human rights and supports that there can be a human right to internet access. i Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest appreciations here to the following people and institutions: My family, especially my late father (Teochew: Ng Zung-ngag; Mandarin: Huang Junyue) whom and whose short fifty-year journey on earth I owe everything to, and my mother (Teochew: Li Kim-eng; Mandarin: Li Qinying) who has endured a lot and persistently supported my study abroad; Prof Rowan Cruft, whose excellent supervision and kindness have helped me to achieve the completion of this dissertation; Dr Elizabeth Ashford, whose acceptance of my MPhil proposal had made this year’s research and study possible; Dr Adam Etinson and Dr Ben Colburn, whose comments on the dissertation after its first submission have greatly helped the improvement of the dissertation; The Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights of University of Vienna (Universität Wien), for its admission of me into this great programme, and Uni.-Prof Dr Manfred Nowak, Mag. Marijana Grandits, Mr Walter Suntinger, Mr Georges Younes for their excellent teaching and supports; Mr Matthew Green, Mr Marco Grossi, Mr Oliver Spinney, Mr Siméon De Bro for their feedbacks and discussions on some of the points in this dissertation, and their lovely company this year; Ms Feng Kehui ( ), a fellow St Andrews student for her very kind support and sincere friendship all throughout
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