11-10-2026 
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
TL;DR: Most of the world is now on the internet, but the people still left out are largely in poorer countries, and bringing them in is getting more expensive just as AI raises the stakes. Meanwhile, France is weighing a tax on heavy data users behind much of its web traffic, and Venezuela has loosened its tight grip on the internet only slightly.
Key Takeaways:
- About 6.3 billion of 8.3 billion people use the internet, up from 6.1 billion a year earlier, while about 2 billion remain offline.
- The ITU fears AI could widen the digital divide and make it harder to reach people who are still offline.
- France’s narrowly passed per-gigabyte “traffic tax” bill would make big data-heavy companies pay for network use.
- Venezuelan authorities unblocked 45 domains and allowed Starlink, but internet censorship dating back to 2007 largely continues.
Access to better opportunities and a more inclusive socioeconomic environment is within reach for 76% of the world’s population who have access to the internet, while 24% remain offline as of 2026, according to data released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on November 3.
The global population stands at 8.3 billion as of November 2026, and of this figure, an estimated 6.3 billion are confirmed to have access to the internet. This is a roughly 3.3% increase from the 6.1 billion registered by the ITU in 2025.
The growth can be attributed to several factors, including governments’ heightened efforts to upgrade networks, invest in digital public infrastructure (DPI), and provide avenues for people to improve their digital skills.
While countries are doubling down on their attempts to boost digital connectivity, numerous challenges remain, and among them are projected costs of investing in hard infrastructure and funding human and institutional capacity, which the ITU outlined in its previous report.
According to the United Nations agency for digital technologies in its Connecting humanity action blueprint released in September 2025, governments would need approximately $2.6 trillion to $2.8 trillion to “connect people meaningfully,” about five times higher than what was estimated by experts in 2020.
Beyond costs, there is also the problem of the digital divide, with 93% of internet usage in 2026 attributed to high-income countries, while only 32% is in low-income nations. This demonstrates how a country’s economic standing and financial constraints significantly affect digital inclusion.
On the other hand, the ITU expressed concern about artificial intelligence (AI) potentially exacerbating the digital divide and making it more challenging for the remaining two billion people to connect to the internet.
“In the age of AI, being offline means being shut out of countless opportunities, from education to employment,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, as quoted by Anadolu Ajansi. “Now more than ever, we need to expand connectivity and make it meaningful for everyone, everywhere.”
To address this, the UN institution urged governments to launch and strengthen projects targeted toward boosting people’s digital skills, while also ensuring that connectivity remains affordable.
“Facts and Figures 2026 shows us the significant progress achieved so far and the work that lies ahead of us to translate access to digital technologies into meaningful connections that can improve people’s lives. For this to happen, we should also prioritize the delivery of digital skills. Without digital skills and meaningful connectivity, the benefits of technologies risk remaining out of reach for many, reinforcing existing digital divides,” explained ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau director, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava.
Data-heavy sectors decry France’s tabled ‘traffic tax’
While access to internet expands globally, data-heavy sectors found themselves in the crosshairs of France’s proposed “traffic tax” or “internet tax” bill that, if successfully ratified, would see online content providers and content delivery networks (CDNs) pay €0.055 ($0.06) per 1 gigabyte of content distributed to French users.
The new measure, proposed by socialist lawmaker Lauren Lhardit, is an amendment to France’s Finance Bill and has gained the backing of National Assembly members, who voted 11-10, on October 30. Although the tabled legislation has been added to the country’s next budget, it has yet to pass the Senate for final approval, Yahoo! News reported.
France is expected to generate around €10 billion ($11.2 billion) in annual government revenue if the bill is passed, helping the country tackle its massive fiscal deficit and revenue shortfall amid sluggish economic growth, political deadlock, and social unrest. However, businesses in the web industry weren’t too keen on this.
Tech and media giants Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Netflix, Amazon (NASDAQ; AMZN), Meta (NASDAQ META), and global CDN and cloud services provider Akamai are expected to suffer the brunt of this amendment, with critics fearing that the levies could be passed down to consumers in the long run—a concern that Lhardit says he doesn’t see happening.
“The rapporteur keeps arguing that the taxes will be passed on to consumers. However, I fail to see how a tax can be passed on to users of Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok since these services are free,” he said.
The five aforementioned companies have been identified by authorities as being responsible for generating about half of France’s internet traffic. Based on current estimates, approximately 200 billion GB of data pass through internet providers in France annually.
Apart from the big five, gaming companies won’t be spared from the impact of the bill, as features for AAA or high-capacity games nowadays often require at least about 100 GB of data to be installed. The same goes for internet service providers (ISPs) and CDNs involved in training AI large language models (LLMs), INVEN Global reported.
While France awaits the Senate’s final approval of the amendment, authors of the bill allayed the worries of companies that will be affected by the bill, noting that the levy will only be capped at 15% of their revenue or 2% of their worldwide sales.
Internet blockades in Venezuela loosen, but remain
While governments worldwide make efforts to boost digital connectivity, the same cannot be said for crisis-ridden Venezuela, which remains one of the most economically and politically isolated regimes in the world.
Internet blockades, initiated by former administrations of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, have continued to be enforced across numerous media outlets, websites, and social media platforms in Venezuela.
Although some of these restrictions have been removed across 45 domains in September, even giving licenses to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service to operate in the country, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) pleaded with the government to continue lifting the curbs for the remaining affected outlets to help bring back the country’s freedom of expression.
Internet restrictions have also kept most Venezuelans in the dark about major global events, said the UN agency.
“The recent unblocking of sites is a step in the right direction. But it must be extended to all unduly blocked sites and implemented by all internet service providers,” the experts stated. “Maintaining the restrictions undermines the Venezuelan people’s right to seek, receive, and impart information and the ability of journalists and human rights defenders to communicate securely and exercise their legitimate right to promote, and ensure the effective realisation of fundamental rights.”
The OHCHR also urged the government to adopt measures to ensure that websites are not blocked or shut down unfairly or without proper legal reasons.
Internet blockades in Venezuela have been enforced since 2007, when the government began cracking down on media organizations as part of its efforts to control the country’s political narrative and prevent the opposition from communicating with the public in a bid to deter igniting a revolution.
FAQs:
How many people are still offline?
Around 2 billion people still have no Internet access, and they are concentrated in lower-income countries, where the gap between those who are connected and those who aren’t remains widest.
Why did global connectivity grow this year?
Several things pushed the number up. Governments upgraded their networks, invested in digital public infrastructure, and funded programs to help people build digital skills.
What would France’s ‘traffic tax’ do?
It would require online content providers and content delivery networks to pay a €0.055 ($0.06) fee for every gigabyte of data they send to users in France.
Is the French tax law final?
No. It was added to the budget after a very narrow vote in the National Assembly, but it still has to clear the Senate. Until then it remains a proposal, and its final form could change.
What did Venezuela change about its internet restrictions?
Authorities lifted blocks on dozens of websites in September and licensed Starlink to operate in the country. However, many outlets and platforms are still blocked, and UN human rights experts are pressing the government to remove the remaining restrictions.
Watch | The IPv6 internet push: Web standards & Bitcoin utility
