The Internet in Britain: 2009

The Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) is a regular survey which asks Britons how they access, use, and perceive the internet, as well as how it affects their everyday lives. This report sets out the results of the 2009 edition, which describes aspects of the new, broadband, and more mobile, Internet and its Web 2.0 platforms.

It shows how this evolving Internet is reconfiguring access to information, people and services in ways that are reshaping economic and social development. The social implications of the Internet, identified in this report, support current initiatives to bring those excluded into the UK government’s vision of a ‘Digital Britain’, by reducing barriers to inclusion. However, the survey also underscores the difficulties in bringing a significant sector of non-users to the Internet, and in formulating approaches to regulation and control that will not undermine the very openness, privacy and freedom of expression that makes it such an innovative and valuable information and communication resource.