I think it is simpler than what your question implies, Ijaz. Fundamentally, the Internet is a global telecom service that expands on what was available previously - voice telephony. With Internet Protocols, you can communicate with voice, like before, but also graphics, motion videos, music, text. Point being, it is telecom - two-way service - for people and businesses to use. Like the telephone, but so much more.

Is everything free? No. Some information sources are free, others you have to pay, others are for private use only. And of course, the service itself costs some money, just like voice telephone service always did.

It can be used in almost too many ways to list. Can it be used to spread propaganda? Sure. Just like any other form of information transfer can. That's not to say that all you see is propaganda. Of course, it is not.

It's extremely useful to me, certainly, for work and for play. I even use the Internet to watch television. So now, I would find it unsatisfying to watch TV the old fashioned way, because I've gotten used to browsing the web during or between TV shows. The old way seems so limiting!

The so-called "dark web" are web sites which cannot be reached using the usual Domain Name System (DNS, which automatically translates names into addresses) and normal browsers. Some of this is for sinister purposes, but it doesn't have to be. It's not all that different from having unlisted telephone numbers, in old fashioned telephone service. The same infrastructure is used, but it's not as easy to reach the sites.

As far as I'm concerned, certainly for work, and also for play, it would be much easier to be without telephone service, than to be without Internet service. Even though nowadays, my telephone service uses the same infrastructure as the telephone, so it would be less likely to be without only one of those. But seriously, I can get by for work without the telephone, but no longer without the Internet.

Dear Ijaz Ahmad,

Free free access to information should prevail on the Internet. This is the main factor in the dynamic development of many websites, new internet services, the growth of users of social media portals and many other types of websites. In my opinion, all information that can be publicly disseminated should be available on the Internet without restrictions, universally and free of charge.

Best wishes