6
A Democratic Licence to Operate
and Tinder, for example.6 According to the ONS, over half (54 per cent) of all UK adults
participated in social networking in 2014, including 91 per cent of adults aged 16 to 24.7
1.5
Our method of producing, consuming and trading goods and services has also adapted
to the digital age. The digital technology sector grew over seven times faster than the
economy as a whole between 2008 and 2013.8 Amazon has been the dominant online
retailer of recent years, having seen an 838 per cent increase in sales since its inception
in 1997.9 Online-only entertainment services are growing, and Netflix and YouTube now
account for more than half of all traffic over the Internet by volume. Industries ranging
from railways to retail all depend on high-performance ICT systems to maintain essential
business communications with both customers and suppliers. In the financial sector,
business worth hundreds of billions of dollars is transacted daily via public and private
global data networks. In the public sector, vital institutions rely on ICT to deliver critical
health, education and social services.10 Modern trade and commerce is significantly
facilitated by the Internet, not only in terms of communication (especially via e-mail)
and logistics, but also processing and exchanging financial and business information.
The ability to collect and use consumer data has enabled the private sector to target its
communications and advertising at particular groups of consumers and to provide more
personalised services.
1.6
The Internet is a key medium for democracy and protest and is changing the relationship
between governments and citizens. Research conducted by the Hansard Society found
that the Internet makes it ‘easier to take part in democracy’, and suggested that citizens
‘want to communicate and engage, to track and contribute to the democratic debate’.11
At the same time David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and
expression, warns that contemporary digital technologies provide governments – as well
as corporations, criminals and pranksters – with an ‘unprecedented capacity to interfere
with the rights to freedom of opinion and expression’.12
1.7
The Internet is changing how governments operate too. A Digital Efficiency Report
published in 2012 explained why ‘going digital’ was important to the British economy. The
report estimated that between £1.7 and £1.8 billion could be saved and ‘digital services
can harness the power and convenience of the web to make these interactions quicker,
The Economist, ‘The Truly Personal Computer’, 28 February 2015.
Office for National Statistics, ‘Internet Access – Households and Individuals 2014’.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury, ‘The Digital Communications
Infrastructure Strategy’, Policy Paper, 18 March 2015.
9. Amazon, ‘Amazon.com: 2014 Annual Report’, 2015.
10. Paul Cornish, Rex Hughes and David Livingstone, ‘Cyberspace and the National Security of
the United Kingdom’ (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2009), p. 1.
11. Andy Williamson, ‘Digital Citizens and Democratic Participation: An Analysis of How
Citizens Participate Online and Connect with MPs and Parliament’, Hansard Society, 2010.
12. David Kaye, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the
Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression’, UN Human Rights Council, A/HRC/29/32, 22
May 2015, p. 3.
6.
7.
8.