Topic: Net Neutrality
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Delegate Name: Abigail Pointer
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Democratic Republic of the Congo position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Net neutrality, the debate whether citizens should have access to the full span of the internet, is an issue affecting developing and already developed countries alike. Many countries, most notably the US, have put protection into place to protect the right to access the expanse of the internet; however, it is being seen that countries that do not have protection in place are being taken advantage of. Facebook created their internet.org program, which was an effort to provide free internet to developing countries around the world, but only making a very limited range of access available, cutting out their competition. India, a large receiver of Facebook’s internet service, recently passed a law that protected their net neutrality.
DR Congo sees what actions countries have taken to protect their net neutrality and is on board with that movement. A letter was written to the FCC of the US to commending them for passing the recent net neutrality act. As many as thirty global groups signed the letter, including a signatory from the DR Congo. The progress that the US makes is a “major step for net neutrality around the world”. Despite being on board for net neutrality, DR Congo has a spotty history with internet usage. For a period in 2015, internet was taken away to prevent communication of riots. Though now restored, only 3.9% of the population, roughly 3 million people, only have access to internet. DR Congo does not have any net neutrality protection, and though companies such as Facebook offer limited range, it is successful with providing internet to an otherwise internetless country. DR Congo at this time does not have the ability to provide internet to its population.
