Aug 6, 2015 3 min read

In Thursday’s editorial, we pointed out the Internet has become the dominant purveyor of information in the world, eclipsing radio, television and, yes, paper-and-ink newspapers that still land on many doorsteps every morning.

Not only is the Internet the primary way many people consume news, it’s also how they shop, look for employment and, yes, even find people to date. Though it sometimes seems we spend too much time staring at our smartphones or are excessively entranced by social media and cat videos, the Internet has become an irrevocable and indispensable part of daily life for all but the most stubborn resisters of 21st century technology.

In spite of this, a report from the nonprofit news agency PublicSource, which appeared in the Observer-Reporter Tuesday, highlighted a disturbing statistic – fully 1 million homes in Pennsylvania lack access to the Internet, almost one-quarter of the commonwealth’s households. And they are a fraction of the 55 million Americans who do not have access in their homes to reliable broadband Internet service.

The reasons? Some of those without the Internet live deep in rural areas where broadband access is spotty, while others simply can’t afford the costs that come with it. When a job is lost or doesn’t pay sufficiently, and the choice comes down to the Internet or groceries, groceries are going to win every time.

But the lack of Internet access often means those who are running behind will only fall further back in the pack without it.

The story from PublicSource talked to a family whose daughter, a high school student, stays after school to use computers to send out college applications, then braves a walk home on Philadelphia’s streets at a time of day her mother considers to be unsafe. Hours at public libraries and time limits on the use of computers are an additional impediment. Then, there are schoolchildren who need to do homework on the Internet, but their parents can’t afford a computer.

There are probably many residents of Washington and Greene counties who can relate to these problems.

Whether in a city or in the countryside, people without Internet access are usually at the mercy of corporate giants like Verizon or Comcast. But there are some solutions being formulated that could help bridge the digital divide.

First, the federal Lifeline phone subsidy, which provides $9.25 per month to low-income Americans for phone service, may also extended to Internet service as per a recommendation made in June by the the Federal Communications Commission.

The Obama administration is also backing a public-private partnership that would make Internet access free or available at low cost to residents of public housing. Comcast also sponsors an initiative that makes the Internet available to children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.

“I think that the Internet is a human right,” Hannah Jane Sassaman, of Philadelphia’s Media Mobilizing Project, told PublicSource. Though that might be taking the argument a little far – we’d put food and basic health care higher on the list – there is no doubt Internet access is an increasing necessity if you wish to be an active participant in today’s society and a contributor to its economy. The Internet is a portal to the world that shouldn’t be closed to a large number of Americans.