Making Sense of Internet Censorship - Essay Example

Internet Censorship Name Date Course Internet Censorship Introduction Internet censorship involves the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published or viewed over the internet. Internet censorship can be carried out by the government or private organizations. In most cases it is usually carried out by the government due to various reasons which include moral reasons, religious, business, societal norms, intimidation and fear of legal consequences. The censorship has always led to criticism as well as praises from different members of the society. This is considering the control of some of the contents is important as it has a negative impact of the society. It is also important to note that internet censorship is usually carried out in many parts of the world. Many governments in Asia as well as Middle East are usually involved in the internet censorship process (Burnett, 2013). The extent of internet censorship varies among different countries. In most of the democratic government the extent of internet censorship is moderate while in other countries it is more severe. The Arab spring is an example of an event that has contributed to internet censorship in most of the countries. The paper discusses how censorship can work in some instances and how it can be a detriment in the society in other instances. Discussion Internet censorship can work where it is meant to ensure that societal norms and morality is maintained. Some of the contents in the internet have a negative impact on the morality of the people. Child pornography is one of the incidences that have negative impacts on the morality of the people. Censorship in the aspects of child morality has won a lot of support from the members of the community due to the negative impacts that it has on morality (Levis, 2012). Internet censorship therefore plays an important role in the protection of children from exploitation. Internet censorship has also won a lot of support from the members of the society in terms of preventing hate speech which has the potential of causing chaos in the society. Some of the internet sites are usually used for the purposes of promoting the use of illegal drugs. All the illegal drugs are harmful and have the potential of affecting the people healthwise. Censoring such sites has therefore won a lot of support from the members of the society. The censorship of sites that promote the use of illegal drugs is common in most of the countries. Gambling sites have also been a target of censorship in most of the countries. This is because gambling has negative effects on the individuals and it is also illegal in some of the countries. The censorship of the internet is therefore important in some incidences as it is meant to protect the members of the society from being exposed to harmful information. Internet censorship has also won a lot of support from the society when it is aimed at the sites that encourage or incite violence. Encouraging violence has a negative impact on the peace and harmony within the society. Some of the sites that belong to terrorist organizations usually encourage the people to be engaged in violence and hence the need for censorship. Some of the internet sites are also known for promoting criminal activities. Criminal activities usually compromise the safety of the members of the society and hence the importance of censorship. In France and Germany, the Nazi websites are usually censored as it promotes violence and hate speech (Warf, 2013). It also targets some members of the society and hence its negative effects. Internet censorship has also been encouraged with regards to the sites with blasphemous content. This is especially important when the blasphemous contents are directed at a majority or state supported religion. Some of the internet sites also promote racism, sexism or homophobia. Such sites have a negative impact on harmony among the members of the society. The governments in most countries usually censor such sites and the censorship has received a wide public support. Some of the internet sites are therefore responsible for promoting hatred and among the members of the society and hence the need for censorship. It is also important to note that the censorship of the internet in some countries has led to reduced tensions and hatred among the members of the society. Security of the people is the most important aspects for any country. The threat to national security has to e dealt with immediately to promote security and safety of the members of the society. The websites of the insurgent groups, extremist groups and terrorist groups are usually censored by the government due to national security (Chadwick, 2010). The censorship of such sites is widely accepted by the members of the community due to the negative effects that the groups pose on the society. The sites belonging to terrorist groups like ISIL has been a target of censorship in most counties due to the threat to national security that it poses. The internet site of the group is also known for posting horrific images of and hence the need for its censorship. Such sites are also known for promoting violence and promoting the recruitment of fighters and hence the negative effects that it has on the national security. In some Middle East countries, the sites belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood has also been a target of censorship since the group is seen as a threat to national security. It is also important to note that the internet is increasingly becoming an important tool that is used by most of the people for the purpose of promoting rebellion against the state. It is for this reason that most of the Arab countries are involved in internet censorship. The internet played an important role in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab spring which is an indication that it can be used to influence the members of the society (Maitland, 2012). The internet censorship is also motivated by the need to protect the economic interest. Copyright piracy has been a major effect in most of the organizations and it has impacted negatively on the profitability of the organizations involved. Internet censorship is thus aimed at reducing the incidences of copyright piracy and hence promoting the interest of the business people. The internet censorship for the purpose of protecting the economic interest has received a wide support and hence its benefits to the members of the society. It is thus important to note that internet censorship is also useful in preventing economic sabotage. The internet sites such as The pirate bay has been a target of internet censorship due to the negative effects that it has on the economy. Some sites usually sell and distribute music or other contents without the approval of the rights holders (Knockel, 2011). This has a negative impact on the right holders as it reduces their profitability. Censorship is also important for the purposes of ensuring that businesses are not involved in illegal activities through the use of the internet. The internet censorship is thus important for the purpose of protecting the interest of the business people. Filtering which is part of internet censorship is also encouraged for the purposes of protecting the environment from malware. This is considering that the malware presents a threat to the sites of different organizations. The internet censorship has been widely supported for the purposes of protecting the economic interest. The internet censorship has however been criticized on the grounds of violating the rights of the people with regards to the freedom of speech. This is considering that censorship limits the interaction and communication among the people and hence impacting negatively on the freedom of speech. The internet censorship Egypt led to a wide scale criticism by the people during the Arab Spring. Internet censorship in Turkey was also criticized as it impacted negatively on the freedom of speech of the people. The decision was later overturned by the courts on the grounds of violating the freedom of speech. Internet censorship also has a negative impact on the interaction of the people as most of the sites that are targeted have to modify their contents. The internet is currently the most important source of information among the people as the information posted on the internet can reach millions of people within a short time. Internet censorship has thus been widely criticized on the grounds that it limits the freedom of information (Bitso, 2013). Most of the media organizations are also against the internet censorship as it impacts negatively on the freedom of the press. Internet censorship has forced most of the media houses to modify their contents and hence impacting negatively on the freedom of information. It is important to note that internet censorship also has a negative impact on the ability of the people to access some information from the internet. Most of the Arab countries have been criticized for internet censorship as it limits the access of information by the people. Internet censor ship also has some negative impacts on education. It is difficult for students to obtain some information regarding different topics due to the internet censorship. Due to internet censorship, students usually find it difficult to obtain information regarding drugs and sexuality. This is because most of the contents regarding sexuality and drugs have been filtered and hence making it difficult to obtain such information. Although internet censorship is carried out with good intentions, it also ends up creating a negative impact on the society (Elahi, 2012). The access to educational resources is thus impacted negatively by the internet censorship. This therefore impacts negatively on the ability of the internet from being a reliable source of information when it comes to education. Internet censorship has also been criticized widely for its role in widening the social gaps. This is because it prevents the interaction of the people from different cultures and society. In some of the countries, the social media has been a target for internet censorship and this includes facebook and Twitter. This has impacted negatively on the interaction of the different members of the society. This therefore makes it difficult for people from diverse cultures to interact and hence widening the social gap. It is also important to note that the internet censorship has impacted negatively on the learning of different cultures. This is because internet censorship makes it difficult to obtain information with regards to different cultures. On the other hand, it is also important to note that internet censorship has made it difficult to obtain information with regards to some countries like North Korea. Internet censorship also has a negative impact on resources of a country when the censorship is being implemented by the government. Internet censorship requires a lot of resources in terms of labor and equipment. Internet censorship requires a lot of money for the purposes of setting up the system and upgrading it on an occasional basis (Wagner, 2012). Internet censorship requires an upgrade on an occasional basis due to the technological changes that affects the process. The members of the public have thus criticized the large scale internet censorship as it amounts to wastage of resources. It is also important to note that the lack of funds has also impacted negatively on the implementation of the internet censorship programs in most of the countries. Internet censorship has also been criticized for its negative impacts on businesses. Some of the businesses cannot be accessed due to the internet censorship. This is because they may have names that are almost similar to sites that have targeted for censorship and hence impacting negatively on their access (Roberts, 2013). The business owners also find it difficult to access some of the suppliers and hence impacting negatively on their businesses. The negative impacts of the internet censorship therefore make it difficult for businesses to compete on a global scale. It is difficult to access most of the companies from countries with strict internet censorship policies and hence its negative impacts on competing on a global scale. Conclusion In conclusion it is evident that internet censorship has worked in some areas while in other areas it has been widely criticized. Internet censorship has a positive impact on the society as it protects the children from exploitation. On the other hand, it is also important to note that internet censorship is usually carried out for the purposes of ensuring that the security of the people is guaranteed. O the other hand, it is also evident that terrorists or extremist organizations use the internet to promote violence and hence the importance of internet censorship. Internet censorship is also important in ensuring that it protects a country and individuals against economic sabotage. However, it is evident that internet censorship has a negative impact on the access to information. It also make is also evident that it affects the socialization of the people from diverse backgrounds. Internet censorship also has a negative impact on the businesses as it limits their ability to carry out business through the use of the internet. It is thus evident that internet censorship has its positive and negative effects on the society. List of References Burnett, S, 2013, Making sense of internet censorship: a new frontier for internet measurement, ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 43(3), 84-89. Levis, P, 2012, The collateral damage of internet censorship by dns injection, ACM SIGCOMM CCR, 42(3). Warf, B, 2011, Geographies of global Internet censorship, GeoJournal, 76(1), 1-23. Chadwick, A, 2010, Routledge handbook of Internet politics, Taylor & Francis. Knockel, J, 2011, Three researchers, five conjectures: An empirical analysis of tom-skype censorship and surveillance, In FOCI’11: USENIX Workshop on Free and Open Communications on the Internet. Bitso, C, 2013, Trends in transition from classical censorship to Internet censorship: selected country overviews, Innovation: journal of appropriate librarianship and information work in Southern Africa: Information Ethics, (46), 166-191. Elahi, T, 2012, CORDON–A Taxonomy of Internet Censorship Resistance Strategies, University of Waterloo CACR, 33. Wagner, B, 2012, Push-button-autocracy in Tunisia: Analyzing the role of Internet infrastructure, institutions and international markets in creating a Tunisian censorship regime, Telecommunications Policy, 36(6), 484-492. Roberts, H, 2013, Internet Censorship and Control, IEEE Internet Computing, 17(3), 0006-9. Maitland, C, 2012, Internet censorship circumvention technology use in human rights organizations: an exploratory analysis, Journal of Information Technology, 27(4), 285-300. Read More