Access is not one thing. Between a person and what they are trying to reach there are four separate points, each owned by somebody different — and only one of the four looks like a decision.
Device, connection, route, visibility — and who owns each of the four choke points.
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What moves through digital space is not only information. Money, work, attention and people move too, and each flow follows the route somebody built for it.
Real-world examples you can name
M-Pesa mobile money — launched 2007
Money is sent as a text message and cashed in or out at a local agent, so a phone becomes a bank account without a bank. Research has linked it to households moving out of extreme poverty, particularly those headed by women.
Who it affected: People with a phone but no bank branch within reach.
Government internet shutdowns — tracked annually by Access Now since 2016
States order operators to suspend mobile data or the whole internet, usually during protests, elections or exams. India has recorded the most shutdowns of any country for several consecutive years.
Who it affected: Everyone in the affected region — including businesses, hospitals and students.
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| Choke point | Who controls it | How visible is it? |
|---|---|---|
| A device and the skill | Income and education | Invisible — affects most people |
| A connection | Providers and geography | Measured, rarely acted on |
| The route | Governments and providers | Visible — gets reported |
| Being shown | The platform | Invisible — nothing to appeal |
Real-world examples you can name
The people still offline — ITU Facts and Figures — 2023 estimate
The International Telecommunication Union estimated roughly 2.6 billion people had never used the internet, with the gap concentrated in low-income countries and, within countries, among women, rural populations and older people.
Who it affected: About a third of humanity, who cannot reach services the rest treat as default.
Starlink satellite internet in Ukraine — from February 2022
Low-earth-orbit satellite terminals restored connectivity where ground infrastructure had been destroyed. Because coverage decisions rested with a single private company, they also became decisions about the conduct of a war.
Who it affected: Ukrainian civilians and military units relying on the link.
How this is tested — “some people do not have access” is worth almost nothing; naming which of the four points is worth the mark. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part b: explain why a group cannot use a described service
- Part c: evaluate a plan to widen access
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q2: explain a barrier described in a source
- HL Paper 3: recommend something that reaches the right choke point
The trap: one kind of access: A plan that hands out devices does nothing about connection cost, and a cheap connection does nothing for someone with no device.
Explain one reason why giving people devices may not give them access.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Discuss the claim that internet shutdowns are sometimes justified.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.