Search
AI-powered search, human-powered content.
scroll to top arrow or icon

Watch our discussion to decide: should internet access be free?

Global Stage - Digital Equty: Should internet access be free for everyone? Wed, Sept 15, 2021 | 11am ET/8am PT

Access to the internet is a universal right.

Broadband should be free.

Tech companies should foot the bill.

Discuss.

GZERO Media and Microsoft will convene proponents, skeptics, and fence-sitters to debate whether the internet should be free on the next Global Stage event.

Make up your mind in our event September 15th at 11am ET/8am PT.


Special appearance by António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Sign up here to get updates about this and other upcoming GZERO Media events.

Tell us what side you're on: follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to answer our online polls.



More from Global Stage

Can we use AI to secure the world's digital future?

How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft.

Is the Europe-US rift leaving us all vulnerable?

As the tense and politically charged 2025 Munich Security Conference draws to a close, GZERO’s Global Stage series presents a conversation about strained relationships between the US and Europe, Ukraine's path ahead, and rising threats in cyberspace.

A full-stack approach to AI

At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, GZERO’s Tony Maciulis spoke with Microsoft’s Vickie Robinson and the World Bank Group’s German Cufré on why AI readiness depends on closing the digital access gap.

Gender gap in AI job displacement

Who benefits from AI and who is left behind? Speaking at the United Nations, Sarah Steinberg highlighted the disproportionate impact of AI on women in the workforce. One in three women works in a job "likely to be disrupted or significantly changed by AI compared to one in four men globally,” Steinberg said. At the same time, women account for only a third of those building AI skills, creating a skills gap that could limit access to emerging jobs.

How can AI improve everyday life for citizens?

How can artificial intelligence improve everyday life for citizens? Speaking at the United Nations, Parvathaneni Harish highlighted India’s approach to digital public infrastructure. “Today in India, the cost of access to internet is the lowest in the world… and data usage per capita is one of the highest,” he said.

Preparing the workforce for AI

How will artificial intelligence reshape the global workforce, and who will be ready for it? Speaking at the United Nations, Doreen Bogdan-Martin said the rapid growth of AI will transform jobs worldwide, making large-scale workforce training essential. “We’ve seen estimates that 170 million new jobs will be created; maybe 90 million jobs will be lost,” she said. “So how do we ensure that we’re prepared?”