A quote has been making the rounds recently. Attributed to Martha Lane-Fox (founder of Lastminute.com and New Labour’s “Digital Champion”) on a BBC Radio 4 programme, the quote goes:
“I don’t think you can be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online”
OK, so there we have it. A statement from someone who works with a number of charities in the fields of Human Rights, Civil Justice and Disease Prevention. Someone who should understand that a large percentage of UK citizens care more about keeping their jobs, putting food on the table and clothing their children, than posting inane comments on Twitter and updating their Facebook status.
The quote also comes at a time when the Government’s own ‘Digital Britain’ report proposes a ‘Broadband Tax’ that everyone with a telephone line must pay – regardless of if they have broadband or not, or even own a computer!
I had hoped that the infrastructure of the digital age would be provided by a government and industry that realised that they were the ones who needed to invest in the future economic growth of the country, not it’s citizens – who have better things to pay for. Isn’t it a governemnt’s job to provide the economic environment for innovation, education and growth? Isn’t that what we pay them taxes to do?
If the broadband tax was levied on Broadband accounts – that would be slightly fairer. But, when it’s planned to be charged to everyone renting a phone line – something of a necessity if you’re old, infirm or live in an economically deprived area – then it is nothing more than a stealth tax in the middle of a recession.
I strongly believe in closing the poverty gap, in ensuring that the poorer are given a better opportunity to engage in the political process of this country. But when someone, with ties to the government, comes out with a quote that says your not a proper citizen unless you engage online, when the government actually plans to tax you for going online, then that doesn’t seem like the government wants the poorest to be engaged.
So, when someone feels like telling you that you’re not a proper citizen because you don’t have your own MySpace page, invite them ’round to your house, invite them to join you in the Job Centre queue, invite them to buy your weekly shopping or even better your phone bill or ‘Broadband Tax’. Ask them then, if they still believe its fair that those the government are meant to help the most, those who truly need economic aid and help, as citizens of this country, should pay for your faster iTunes download.
