The United Nations (UN) said on Friday (3) that the Internet is a human right and to disconnecting the web population violates this policy.
The report criticized France and the United Kingdom, which passed laws to block access to people who do not comply on the copyright on the web, and also countries that impede access to social networks to reduce mass protests against governments.
"While block or filter access to user specific content of the web, some countries take steps to shut out completely from the network," the statement said. The UN considers cutting access to the Internet, regardless of justification and including violation of intellectual property rights as a reason, "a violation of article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
The UN calls on all countries to maintain access to the web at all times, including during periods of political instability, urging countries to review their laws of intellectual property rights not to block access by users.
The UN statement was issued on the same day that an Internet monitoring company reported that two thirds of Internet access in Syria was out, which would be a government response to the demonstrations of the country's population.
