Even when statistics are compiled according to countries, the same result is reflected: the prosperous, industrialized countries of the West dominate. According to the World Economic Forum, in 1995, the United State had 35 personal computers per 100 people, and countries like Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom all had rates in the low to high 20s. However, a country like Ghana, in Africa, scored only 0.11 computers per 100 people. These statistics seem to indicate that the majority of the world's population - nearly all located in the South - are being shut out in the evolution of the new technologies.

Why does such an information gap exist? For one, access to the Internet is significantly simpler in the North. For instance, "host" computers - those which link up directly to the Internet through high-speed connections - abound in the countries of the North. The opposite is largely true for the South. Some countries of the South lack direct access to the Internet; that is to say, they lack domestic host computers. As a result, users in those countries must pay for expensive international communications in order to connect to the Internet.

Additionally, as was indicated by the International Telecommunications Union statistics, most of the world's population lacks basic telecommunications ability. Telephones are a luxury to most of the population of the South. Moreover, while some of these countries may be served relatively well, the service often is confined to urban areas only, leaving out large parts of the population which are found in rural areas. Good quality telephone lines, computers and modems, which the North have in abundance, are not common in the South, where people must usually contend with antiquated and often unreliable lines in order to send and receive information. In terms of the Internet, this handicap is costly, financially speaking. For example, someone in the North with a fixed domestic link to a high-speed network that can download megabits of information per second pays very little to access a document on the Internet, especially when compared to someone in the South who accesses the same document on an unstable line using an international network that downloads only a few hundred characters of information per second. Clearly, something is needed to be done to reduce such differences in technological capability between the North and South.

A concerted effort to address this imbalance is occurring around the world. In Africa, for instance, less than ten countries on the continent were directly connected to the Internet in 1995. Today, over three-quarters of the capital cities in Africa - 43 out of 54 - have developed some form of Internet access, and it is expected that many of the remaining capitals will also have Internet facilities soon. On the surface, these statistics sound promising, but can what is happening in Africa be deemed a success story for the continent, indeed, for the South?

A recent initiative dubbed "Africa One" provides a cautionary tale. AT&T and the French company Alcatel Submarine Networks are planning a massive project to encircle Africa with 39,000 km of fibre-optic cable. The goal is to connect 41 African states and be operational by the year 2000. Africa One, according to its backers, will empower all Africans and greatly reduce their reliance on European telecommunications. They add that the project will need over US$600 million in loans, primarily from the World Bank, to African governments for the project to proceed. However, one cannot be surprised if these governments are a little leery of such a prospect, since they are still saddled with huge debtloads from previous loans from international banks. (They are also likely to be preoccupied with more pressing problems such as disease and poverty.) Furthermore, because Africa lacks a large pool of talent and resources needed for such a project, Africans will not be major players in the management of the technology; they will likely end up being dependent on Northern technology and expertise, thereby exacerbating the North- South disparities. Indeed, the project has been called disparagingly by one German company "new- tech colonialism." In addition, once African governments spend and invest in the large-scale Africa One cable system, will they have anything left with which to encourage local forms of network development? The initiative seems to pose more problems than it attempts to solve.

Nevertheless, the need is great to redress this imbalance. The flow of information is still largely one-sided: most information originates in the North and in the language of choice for users, namely, English. To counter this, efforts should be made to encourage the development of the Internet in the South so that voices in that part of the world can be heard and can tell their stories in their own languages. Otherwise, the Internet will likely remain the domain of a privileged, predominantly Northern elite.

Cost

Another problem that impedes widespread access to the Internet is cost. At the very least, potential users need a computer, modem, an affordable telephone line and a reliable source of electricity in order to access the Internet. These requirements, though, impose a tremendous financial burden on individuals and groups in the South. In China, for example, the fee for a phone line is close to US$600, while a modem-equipped computer can total around US$2,000. However, the annual average income in China's urban areas is only about US$375. In Burma, only two local Internet servers exist in the country, neither of which is available to the public. Burmese Internet users must therefore rely on calling international providers. Yet, international calls cost about $5 per minute. Elsewhere in Asia, e-mail service in Bangladesh is still very expensive, even for most so- called elites. A computer costs as much as half a year's average salary and a modem costs more than what a family needs in order to survive. The price of even a telephone line is out of the question for most. Generally speaking, the cost of a computer and modem and other necessities for the Internet are almost always several times higher in the South, mainly because the price for imported goods is often much higher in developing countries.

However, it's not just in the South where such financial barriers exist. Even though access to the Internet is simple and priced at local communications costs, Internet access is not an easy choice for many people in the developed nations of the North. Many people who would classify themselves as "middle class" find the cost of hooking up prohibitive. Startup costs begin, realistically, at US$1,000, plus monthly phone rates and other expenses that will be incurred. For many individuals and families, this is not an insignificant investment, especially when they have so many other needs to address financially. The fact that people in the middle range of incomes find costs to be a barrier bodes ill for those below them in the social and economic hierarchy. For low income earners and those who could be classified as poor, the concept of being able to access the Internet and take advantage of all that it has to offer is either just a dream or something that they refuse to consider, simply because the financial burden is too overwhelming. Like their counterparts in the South, the barrier of high costs reveals itself to be a form of economic censorship.

Gender diversity

The gap between North and South is not the only division impeding universal access to the Internet: a gender gap still exists. Surveys consistently show that the percentage of female users of the Internet hovers around 30%, markedly less than the percentage of females in general. Why there are relatively few women using the Internet can be explained by discussing a few key factors.

Many women find the "culture" of the Internet intimidating. Men tend to dominate bulletin boards and usenet group conversations. Such outlets for on-line conversation and expression are often the exclusive domain of men. Some will resort to sexist, provocative statements to "shout down" any woman who attempts to join the conversation or offer a rejoinder to a previously-expressed statement critical of women. Lack of protocol and agreed-upon codes of conduct are perhaps needed in order to bring not just a degree of decorum to on-line expression but also to ensure that women can enter this territory on an equal basis where fair play can be assured.

This is, of course, to say nothing of the presence of pornography on the Internet, the very existence of which - although quite minuscule in relation to the total amount of information available on the Internet - constitutes a barrier for women. Many women are, at the very least, apprehensive about entering a domain where the perception still lingers in many quarters that pornography, much of it degrading to women and children, is, if not rife, at least prominent. Women are understandably reluctant to interact in a medium where such perceived hostility exists.

More generally, women, by virtue of not being key players in the creation, development and management of the new technology, are distanced from accessing and using the Internet to promote themselves and express their own points of view. While there does not exist a male monopoly of the new technology, it is fair to say that it is close. The danger is for women not to take advantage of the new technology, which is, relatively speaking, still in its infancy. While women finally gained a strong foothold over twenty years ago in the print medium through the sprouting of women's publishers, bookshops and university courses where they are in charge of their own information, they must now contend with a new information revolution. After having had such a short time to savour the fruits of their success in the print medium, they must now contend with this rapidly-expanding electronic medium of expression. Unfortunately for women, men have had a head-start, endangering their success.

However, this is not to say that women cannot succeed. They have in many respects: many women are actively involved in the field of science and technology, as well as in the entrepreneurial aspects of the Internet. Furthermore, there are Web sites that deal with such topics as gender and sexuality, women's health, women in computer science and engineering, and women in academia and industry, among others. They demonstrate that women are managing to express themselves on-line. The key for women is to seize the opportunity not just to "de-territorialize" knowledge and expression on the Internet but also to "de-genderize" them. In other words, they must be able to shape and manage this new medium to fit their needs. Otherwise, they risk being shaped and managed - and quite possibly silenced - by it.

© The Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists (ccpj@ccpj.ca)