Prolegomene privind dreptul la internet

Abstract

The right to the internet is analysed from the perspective of the fundamental rights of European citizens, as enshrined in treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The internet is a part, even a condition, of access to institutions and rights. The perspective is that of the digital transformation of Europe, through reforms initiated in recent years in several reference areas – data protection, digital markets, electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions, equitable access to data and fair use thereof (Data Act), digital security, access to documents, or the regulation of the single market for digital services. All these focus on the citizen, but the relationship is established through an instrument, a technology to which citizens must have non- discriminatory access: the internet. Access to the internet has a complex content that refers not only to the use of the internet, email addresses, as a means of identification and correspondence, but also to the respect and guarantee of citizen rights to information, expression, private life, and data protection. We will analyse the extent to which states might be obliged to ensure access to the internet and how they guarantee the fundamental rights of citizens.