Internet Inequality

     Remember a few years ago when the government wanted to change how we access the internet and everyone got all up in arms because we have access now and changing it would make it more difficult for people who currently have access to get access? Me too. I was one of those people. But there is a bigger internet problem that we should be getting up in arms about. There are very many people who currently don't have access to the internet, and that needs to change.
     The internet is a well of information. Most of us have become so accustomed to using it, not only for social media, but just as a part of our lives. How many times a day do you have a question and you use google to find the answer? My bet is at least once. You google recipes, health tips, word definitions, that actor you know you recognize but can't remember where from. And you don't think twice about it. You use social media in some form several times a day. You're reading this blog post.
     Now think if you couldn't do any of that. If you couldn't afford to have internet access, and the world's answers were no longer at your fingertips. How would you survive? For many people, the "dark ages" before the internet are very much a reality. In her study, Emily Hong looks at the many families in San Francisco's Chinatown who cannot afford internet. She attributes this digital divide to the racialization of Chinatown. Over the years, it became a place for the poorer Asian population to live, and they have still not escaped that stigma. For many of these residents, they cannot pay the estimated $32 a month it would cost to have in-home internet access. While that may not sound like a lot to some, that money adds up, especially in an expensive area like San Francisco.
     It doesn't seem ethical that some of the population should be able to afford access to information and some shouldn't. But what can be done about this? First, this problem encompasses the United States as a whole, and while it is certainly worse in areas like San Fran's Chinatown, the cost of internet access overall needs to be decreased in order to take steps to solve those problems.
      To compare to the East coast of the US, New York residents pay roughly $55/month for internet, almost double what people in other large cities such as London or Hong Kong pay. The same article linked in the previous sentence discusses steps to take in order to fix this, and names lack of competition as a serious problem. Based on my personal experience being pigeon-holed into buying a specific server, I can easily agree with this. More market competition could in fact create more competitive prices, and help bring down the overall price of internet.
     While bringing down the price wouldn't necessarily solve all the problems related to internet, it would be a start. It goes without saying that these internet companies overcharging for their service is extremely unethical, and it has the direct result of causing communities like Chinatown where residents cannot afford service. Unfortunately, these companies don't seem to be changing towards a more ethical business outlook anytime soon.