An editorial by a former education minister calling for “limiting Internet rationing to 3GB a week” has sparked controversy in France.
advertisementFrance’s former education minister made headlines this week for the bold headline of an editorial promoting “internet rationing.”
“Free yourself from screens! Let’s ration the internet!” reads an opinion piece by Najat Vallou-Belkassem published Monday in Le Figaro, one of France’s most read daily newspapers. That was the published title.
“I would like to see some practical ideas about how to ration the Internet, for example by limiting the number of gigabytes (GB) that can be used in a day,” Vallow-Belkasem argued in an editorial, adding that the Internet is “an environmental, When it comes to issues such as discrimination, inequality, harassment, education, knowledge, and culture, being the solution is often an exacerbating factor.
“Scarcity requires a certain kind of wisdom. If you knew you only had 3 gigabytes to work with in a week, you probably wouldn’t spend it posting hateful comments or fabricating things. “Maybe,” she added.
The word quickly spread across French media and social platforms, garnering strong reactions.
Marina Ferrari, France’s current secretary of state for digital, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that this was “probably the worst way to approach a debate about our relationship with screens.”
“Addressing risk deserves much better than a Manichean and uncaring approach to a digital space that has as many uses as it has users,” she added.
What do you do with 3GB of internet per week?
According to the French Telecommunications Federation, the average French person uses around 3.5 GB of data on mobile devices alone, while French households use around 55 GB per week on average. This is also close to the European average.
This consumption is expected to increase by 20-25 percent annually as people watch high-definition video and use augmented reality, virtual reality (AR and VR), and artificial intelligence (AI). According to a report by consulting firm Arthur D. Little..
According to the French newspaper Libération, 3GB is the equivalent of watching two short movies or five hours of high-quality footage.
The environmental impact of the digital sector is not broadly influenced by the use of different technologies. Rather, the production of hardware such as computer screens accounts for about 70% of the sector’s environmental footprint in France, followed by data centers, according to the regulator.
controversial editorial
Some have questioned the scientific data on which the editorial is supposed to be based and how such a measure would be possible.
In her editorial, Vallaud-Belkacem does not provide any guidelines or possible frameworks regarding, for example, the needs of companies.
Historically, internet restrictions have been associated with online censorship, blocking nationals of countries such as North Korea, Russia, and Iran from accessing certain services.
Last year, China proposed limiting internet access to two hours a day for users under 18. It also wanted to ban minors from accessing the internet on mobile devices from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The country Vallow-Belkassem mentioned in his opinion piece instituted a video game curfew in 2021, with minors allowed to play for one hour on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
