Proponent and critics of globalisation have very different perspectives on the internet's role. Although the internet started off as a communal medium for sharing information, principally among academics, it is increasingly becoming the tool of transnational corporations to market their information products around the world. Because it is rich countries generating most of the content on the internet, it becomes a form of cultural imperialism, in which western values dominate. English is the language of the internet. The internet is also creating new gaps between the rich and the poor.
Rich countries have much greater access to the internet and communications services generally.
We are moving from an industrial age, in which wealth was created by manufacturing, to an information age in which wealth is created by the development of information goods and services, ranging from media, to education and software. Poor countries are not taking part in this information revolution and are falling further behind. A report prepared for the International Federation of Library Associations by Alfred Kagan on the Electronic Information Gap outlines issues of information richness and information poverty. Many within developing countries see the internet as an opportunity to gain access to knowledge and services from around the world in a way that would have been unimaginable previously. Internet kiosks, mostly facilitating email with overseas relatives, for example, are springing up in many parts of Africa.