As witnessed by the Facebook revolutions and the turmoil in the Middle East, the internet is a powerful tool and one capable of change. In today’s ICT Feature we will look at a recent report presented at the UN Human Rights Council which refers to Internet access as a human right. We will look at the points brought forward on the unrestricted access to the Internet by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Remaining on the same issue of the Internet, we look at a recent study by Robert Half Technology on the use of social media during work. We look at how employers percieve the use of social networking sites by their staff during working hours and since a similar survey was already conducted two years ago, we can analyse the difference between the results from 2009 and 2011.

Finally, we will look at the real impact of social networking sites. We will look at it from a legal perspective and analyse issues such as privacy and data protection.