IFLA Statement on Net Neutrality and Zero-Rating

Abstract

The right to seek, impart and receive information and ideas, and obtain equitable access to all content is a universal right, and central to the mission of IFLA. As set out in the IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Works, libraries have a mission to use the most effective ways to make material accessible, and to ensure that this access is not subject to barriers of any kind.

Without net neutrality, the ability of libraries, as information providers, is compromised. The library website will not be able to compete with commercial information and content providers that have the IFLA Statement on Net Neutrality and Zero-Rating (2016) ability to offer differential levels of service, at preferential prices or for free as a ‘zero-rated’ service. In this situation, library websites may be confined to the slow lane or to the paid access that, obviously, cannot compete with the zero-rated access. Such situation would de facto tax access to knowledge while subsidising commercial content.