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Free WiFi For All? Cities (And Nations) Making Universal Digital Access A Right
Whether it's to bridge the socioeconomic digital divide or to attract tourists, foreign businesses and digital nomads, the time may be ripe to offer free internet access across society. Here are some of those leading the push.
For years, certain big cities have been wooing tourists and remote workers by offering free WiFi hotspots to help find the best restaurants or connect for meetings from a park bench. This month, Mexico City won the Guinness World Record for most free WiFi hotspots in the world, with 21,500.
But city legislators from Mexico's ruling party want to take the next big step, making Internet access a legal right for everyone in the city, the El Heraldo de México daily reported. Temístocles Villanueva, a member of the city parliament from the Morena party, led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, proposed a motion to have universal digital access written into Mexico City's charter.
Villanueva told El Heraldo that his initiative "leads us to harmonize a great many laws so Internet connection becomes a right" regardless of your ability, or willingness, to pay for a connection. This, he said, would also force companies to "improve" the quality and speed of their home services, if WiFi were free outside.
This is just the latest municipal effort that began when Tel Aviv became the first major city in the world to launch a scheme that offered free WiFi back in 2013. Ron Huldai, who's been the city's mayor since 1998, said at the time that the project turned Tel Aviv into "the startup city of the start-up nation."
Yet, criticism came in quickly, with daily Haaretz soon publishing a story about spotty access, missing access points and slow downloads. Further criticism came surrounding the safety of the system after a hacker took over the network in 2016 to show that he could.
�But despite the complaints, free WiFi is becoming increasingly common in major cities. Moscow has a wide network of free hotspots (it came in second in the Guinness World Record), as do Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Barcelona. Last year, the city council of Sydney decided to go ahead with the decision to implement free WiFi too, which already works in Perth, with a limit of 2G of downloads per day.
Several other destinations implemented free internet access for foreigners who work remotely. For example, the Portuguese island of Madeira is trying to position itself as a hotspot for digital nomads and has created a Digital Nomad Village with free WiFi and free office space. The island of Bali in Indonesia has also recently set up free WiFi in 55 villages to allow digital nomads to set up shop there.
the Uber or Airbnb of citizenship,
There are also entire countries that are combining nationwide free WiFi with e-visas or loose immigration policies to attract digital nomads. Estonia, for example, has had free WiFi for many years now, including in the capital city Tallinn, and it has recently launched a digital nomad visa to attract foreign workers who want to establish themselves in the country.
If we consider free WiFi a perk for tourists and digital nomads, some techies are trying to turn the entire concept upside down: authors like Lauren Razavi are advocating for the creation of what they call "an internet country." The idea is to create a software platform for digital nomads, "the Uber or Airbnb of citizenship," but would still need on-the-ground services like hospitals, schools, public transport and … WiFi hotspots. So even in a digital nomad's futuristic dream, free hotspots are the first step to take.
Free WiFi For All? Cities (And Nations) Making Universal Digital Access A Right
Whether it's to bridge the socioeconomic digital divide or to attract tourists, foreign businesses and digital nomads, the time may be ripe to offer free internet access across society. Here are some of those leading the push.
For years, certain big cities have been wooing tourists and remote workers by offering free WiFi hotspots to help find the best restaurants or connect for meetings from a park bench. This month, Mexico City won the Guinness World Record for most free WiFi hotspots in the world, with 21,500.
But city legislators from Mexico's ruling party want to take the next big step, making Internet access a legal right for everyone in the city, the El Heraldo de México daily reported. Temístocles Villanueva, a member of the city parliament from the Morena party, led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, proposed a motion to have universal digital access written into Mexico City's charter.
Villanueva told El Heraldo that his initiative "leads us to harmonize a great many laws so Internet connection becomes a right" regardless of your ability, or willingness, to pay for a connection. This, he said, would also force companies to "improve" the quality and speed of their home services, if WiFi were free outside.
This is just the latest municipal effort that began when Tel Aviv became the first major city in the world to launch a scheme that offered free WiFi back in 2013. Ron Huldai, who's been the city's mayor since 1998, said at the time that the project turned Tel Aviv into "the startup city of the start-up nation."
Yet, criticism came in quickly, with daily Haaretz soon publishing a story about spotty access, missing access points and slow downloads. Further criticism came surrounding the safety of the system after a hacker took over the network in 2016 to show that he could.
�But despite the complaints, free WiFi is becoming increasingly common in major cities. Moscow has a wide network of free hotspots (it came in second in the Guinness World Record), as do Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Barcelona. Last year, the city council of Sydney decided to go ahead with the decision to implement free WiFi too, which already works in Perth, with a limit of 2G of downloads per day.
Several other destinations implemented free internet access for foreigners who work remotely. For example, the Portuguese island of Madeira is trying to position itself as a hotspot for digital nomads and has created a Digital Nomad Village with free WiFi and free office space. The island of Bali in Indonesia has also recently set up free WiFi in 55 villages to allow digital nomads to set up shop there.
the Uber or Airbnb of citizenship,
There are also entire countries that are combining nationwide free WiFi with e-visas or loose immigration policies to attract digital nomads. Estonia, for example, has had free WiFi for many years now, including in the capital city Tallinn, and it has recently launched a digital nomad visa to attract foreign workers who want to establish themselves in the country.
If we consider free WiFi a perk for tourists and digital nomads, some techies are trying to turn the entire concept upside down: authors like Lauren Razavi are advocating for the creation of what they call "an internet country." The idea is to create a software platform for digital nomads, "the Uber or Airbnb of citizenship," but would still need on-the-ground services like hospitals, schools, public transport and … WiFi hotspots. So even in a digital nomad's futuristic dream, free hotspots are the first step to take.
Laura Valentina Cortés, Inès Mermat, Renate Mattar et Hugo Perrin
February 02, 2023
Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!
This week featuring:
Top athletes coming out
Scotland’s trans violence
EU defends inclusive fairytales
… and more
✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
TW: This content may address topics and include references to violence that some may find distressing.
🇪🇬 In Egypt, Gangs and Police Target LGBTQ+ People Using Dating Apps
The new BBC investigative documentary Queer Egypt Under Attackhas revealed how criminal gangs and Egyptian police officers are using dating apps to target the LGBTQ+ community.
In a two-year-long investigation, journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin uncovered the tactics used to lure, and eventually prosecute, LGBTQ+ people in Egypt, where no explicit law against homosexuality exists, but where queer people are more and more at risk of abuse and extortion.
Gangs meet their potential victims on dating apps, where they pretend to be regular people looking for a date, then rob, beat, and extort their victims for money, usually filming these acts and using them to humiliate the victims. The videos often end up online and get millions of views, or they are directly sent to the victims’ families and friends. The police are using the same methods.
While there is no explicit law against homosexuality in Egypt, the crime of debauchery, which is originally a sex work charge, is commonly used to prosecute the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the witnesses interviewed by Shihab-Eldin also declared that they were promised freedom if they in turn became informants and named some of their peers that had the same “perversions”.
🏈 Change Afoot? Top Athletes Come Out In Basketball, Rugby, Tennis
Daria Kasatkina of Russia during the second round of the 2023 Australian Open Grand Slam
A number of high-profile athletes came out this week, such as former pro Australian basketball player Trevor Torrance. Torrance said that he never considered coming out during his career, which coincided with the peak of the AIDS epidemic. “I suffered from anxiety,” he says. “I know I had moments of bouts of depression.”
Russian Tennis Champion Daria Kasatkina also says that being able to come out was a relief to her. “Living in the closet is impossible. It is too hard, it is pointless,” she stated. Kasatkina has also been a vocal critic of the Kremlin and Russia’s war against Ukraine. She officially came out as queer this past summer, but shared in an interview with the Guardian this week that coming out “helped her” and that she is “happy with the outcome.”
Former New Zealand prop Campbell Johnstone has also come out as the first gay All Black. Johnstone said that he has been “leading a double life” and “living a lie” when he came out on television this Wednesday. His coming out has been praised and regarded as “pretty courageous”, especially by All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea: “He probably doesn’t realize how many people he’s helped internally with what he’s done, so big ups to him.”
🏴 Report Shows Explosion Of Trans Hate Crimes In Scotland In Past 10 Years
Hate crimes committed against trans people in Scotland are rising faster than any other type of hate crime, according to new government statistics published recently, with a 68% increase from 2020–2021 to 2021–2022. Hate crimes targeting the sexual orientation of minorities almost doubled since 2014.
At the center of debates is the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which allows trans people to be recognized properly on many legal certificates. In the UK, trans people must submit a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they can obtain one.
In December 2022, Scotland passed legislation that would have removed it to make the process simpler and more accessible. In January, the UK government blocked the reform for women and children protection.
🇮🇳 Delhi Lawyer Denied Judge Position Because Of “Attachment To Gay Rights”
Kirpal, whose appointment as high court judge has been pending for the past five years, is appalled by the matter and claims that the bench is composed of upper caste, heterosexual men – all of whom are biased, which is not a reflection of the society he lives in.
🇱🇹 EU Says “No” To Warning Label On Lithuanian LGBTQ+-Inclusive Fairy Tales
Cover of a children's book containing LGBTQ+ inclusive fairy tales
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that imposing a warning label on a children’s book because it contains LGBTQ+ inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable and violates the right to freedom of expression.
In 2013, the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences published late lesbian writer Neringa Macaté’s book Gintarinė širdis (“Amber Heart”), containing six fairy tales, two of which had storylines about relationships and marriages between persons of the same sex. After it was published, complaints were submitted and the Lithuanian courts agreed that the book could cause harm to children because of the LGBTQ+ inclusive fairy tales
The Inspectorate of Journalistic Ethics concluded that the book has a negative effect on minors and therefore recommended that the book be labeled with a warning that it might be harmful to children under 14 years of age. But in 2019, the author, who passed away in 2020, took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights. On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that imposing a warning label on a children’s book because it contains LGBTQ inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable and violates the right to freedom of expression. The court also ordered Lithuania to pay €17,000 to the author’s mother to cover damages and litigation costs.
🇲🇽 Mexico Police Arbitrarily LGBTQ+ People On Grounds Of “Lack Of Morality And/Or Good Manners
In the State of Mexico, phrases such as "lack of morality" are used by the police to harass, extort and arbitrarily detains LGBTQ+ people in public spaces. The findings are shown in an analysis of the 125 municipal governments of the State.
Ricardo Torres, president of Fuera del Clóset A.C. explained “we have been documenting arbitrary arrests, extortion, and harassment by public servants, especially municipal police, for 10 years… And this is something that not only occurs in the State of Mexico, but throughout the country, which uses the figure of ‘lack of morality’ or ‘exhibitionism’ as the perfect excuse for the detention of LGBT+ people."
🇫🇷 France Mourns Bullied Gay Teenage Teenager Who Committed Suicide
Lucas, a 13-year-old gay boy committed suicide on Jan. 7 in Vosges, France. According to his mother, during a press conference last Monday, he was the victim of harassment in the form of teasing and insults due to his homosexuality. A march in memory of Lucas will be held Sunday, Feb. 5.
On Friday, Jan. 27, public prosecutor Frédéric Nahon announced that four students will be tried in the spring for harassing and pushing Lucas to suicide, He also announced the opening of an “incidental investigation against X for non-disclosure of ill-treatment of minors”. During Monday's press conference, broadcast live by the news channels, Lucas' mother said: "It's not just these four young people, it's not just them [...] But it will be the court that will decide. I just want my son to rest in peace and for justice to be done.”
The news has shaken the country with many institutions being scrutinized. One wrote to the French President: “Mr. Macron, stop saying that primary school is "far too early" to deal with questions of sexual orientation and gender identity.“
🇺🇬 Ugandan LGBTQ+ Rights Activist Margaret Sekaggya Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
The U.S. Mission in Uganda has given activist Margaret Sekaggya the Dorothy Ngalombi Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding service and achievements as a human rights defender during the U.S. Mission Alumni Impact Awards Ceremony.
Before she founded the Human Rights and Peace Center, of which she is currently the executive director, Sekaggya served as the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), which she also helped establish. Sekaggya was also the first United Nations special rapporteur for human rights defenders.
Sekaggya is also known for having successfully opposed the 2010 Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda that would have imposed on an offender imprisonment of at least five years, and in the case of a non-governmental organization, the canceling of its certificate of registration and criminal liability for its director.
🇬🇧 London’s Trans Inclusive “Vagina Museum” Gets Eviction Notice – Again
The world’s only vagina museum dedicated to “vaginas, vulvas and the gynecological anatomy” currently located in London, UK, has been yet again asked to vacate the premises, less than a year after it moved into its Bethnal Green site.
The museum’s aim since it opened in Camden Market in 2019 has been to promote queer and trans-inclusive education about anatomy, which has subjected the venue to severe transphobia. After welcoming 40,000 visitors free of charge during the past ten months, the Vagina Museum will be closed to the public from Feb. 1 so it can vacate the premises.
🇺🇸 Utah Bans Gender-Affirming Medical Care
The Republican-dominated state of Utah has become the first U.S. state to ban gender-affirming care for young trans people. The new measure, passed into law on Jan. 28, will include gender surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy for minors that had not been yet diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Utah Governor Spencer Corx affirms that this ban was brought on by a desire for “more and better research” to understand the “consequences” of gender-affirming healthcare. But Brittney Nystrom, executive director of the ACLU of Utah, affirms that this bill “bans access to life-saving medical care for transgender youth in Utah”. Another 18 other states are currently considering similar legislation.
🇳🇱 Dutch Constitution Changed To Ban Sexual Orientation-Based Discrimination
“A disability, or who you fall in love with, should never be a reason to be excluded,” said Habtamu de Hoop, member of the PvdA, a left-wing opposition party in the country.
🇺🇸 Trans Model Laith Ashley Stars As Taylor Swift’s Love Interest In New Music Video
Trans model and actor Laith Ashley is Taylor Swift’s love interest in her new music video. Laith Ashely co-stars as the singer’s love interest in the new music video for “Lavender Haze,” the second single from her 2022 album Midnights. Ashley has previously appeared in campaigns for Barney’s and Diesel, walked the runway for Marco Marco, and was the first out trans member of the “pit crew” on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Swift’s choice of casting for a video she wrote and directed herself has been defined as “a big moment for representation” by Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s director of trans representation Alex Schmider.
