Maintaining the Morality on the Internet - Research Paper Example

Internet Censorship Internet censorship is the prohibition and regulation of getting access to data or documenting information on the internet. It is not limited to media and videos which are printed. Its effect is experienced majorly on the internet communication resources and information where by access to emails, social networking tools such as face book and twitter are aided by access using tablets and mobile phones. It is managed by various organizations ranging from private to public; including governments, controllers, or organizations with their own initiative. Organizations and individuals practice internet censorship because of maintaining the morality in the society, requirement by religion, to conserve the culture of the society, due to authoritative command or due to the requirement by law. There diverse opinions about internet censorship among the people of the modern whereby some support it at the same time others opposing it (Deibert 76). In addition, the degree of internet censorship varies from one country to another or from one organization to another. Some have got suppressed rules on internet censorship while others have extreme legal restrictions whereby even basic information like news that should be passed to the public is suppressed. Moreover, it occurs when sensitive occasions or activities are anticipated to take place. Such events include general elections in various countries to elect new leaders, protests and riots against something. Such censorship is meant not stir incitement among the public to cause more harm during such events. Other fields of censorship are done to protect the legal right to control written work, prevent offensive language against someone and to protect people from getting exposed to disturbing scenes that may cause psychological torture. Most occasions that require internet censorship are related to online censorship that is applied to media and internet. The existing difference between the two is that the limits of a nation sometimes can leak. People can get data which is prohibited in their own country other countries where the same information is not restricted. Therefore, internet censorship must be fully implemented and enforced to ensure there is no access of such information at all. To ensure that this is achieved then sites that should not accessed are completely blocked or only the information that should be communicated to people is filtered. Filtering information or blocking is implemented by use of blacklisting and intensive scrutinization of information that is exchanged. Production of blacklists can be done manually or electronically generated and is only available to the controllers. It can be controlled in a centralized place nationally or be decentralized to various sub- levels but are controlled by the national one which monitors and tracks their efficiency in censorship of the internet. The sub-level branches conform to the legal requirements of the national controller (Henderson78). It is imperative that everything done in the society is controlled before it end up enslave human being. The current social structure is rapidly changing with the advent of the explosive information communication technology. The social networking sites have proven to be havens of inappropriate usage coupled with ill behavior from the young people to adults. It is in the line of such outcomes that modes of regulating use of such sites are put through legal and ethical mirror. Censorship is not all about all the negative contents but it also provides the basis for further improvement in the communication industry. Addiction of internet is very gradual and will always get somebody off guard since it is like putting a frog in cold water then boiling when it is inside rather dropping it in heated water which it would easily sense. In respect of this, it is important that people are saved from dirty internet contents that the owners of the website and the programmers deliver to the people. Many human rights groups are decrying the rotten state of the contemporary social networking sites which includes the pornographic films and other immoral pictures that are detrimental to the young people who also happen to be competing for a social space in line with the dotcom world. Many musicians today post their albums online and some of the videos are not good for children below eighteen years or the age of the majority as define by each individual state. Since there is no appropriate measure against controlling who views what, it is prohibitively difficult to prevent a given person from accessing such materials. What remain to be done is the stakeholders who are composed of the government, religious leaders, political leaders and the general society is to regulate and control posting of such materials to the internet in the first place. Take the case where social misfits take advantage of the anonymity to post dirty videos to the internet without a hitch at the expense of other innocent users. It has been a topic of global discussion on how transform the social networking sites into leaning sites for the people since they can serve many people at a go conveniently and at a cheaper cost. Internet censorship defines a constructive controlled on the quality of the creative works by gauging what should be given priority in the internet. Take the case of horror movies against informative documentaries all seeking the attention of the internet for the public consumption. It is fairly appropriate that the later is given first chance to deliver a message that would spur the social growth of the society. To boost the quality of creative arts, their production must be sieved through the degree of media exposure. This simply means that the creative works that don’t measure up to the stipulated quality threshold are not given public display through the media. That would indeed compel people to thoroughly revise their work before releasing them to the members of the public (Morris 57). Use of copyrights and patents are also vital in regulating the creative art since this builds confidence and encourage creativity. Internet opens up the world of various people in their different geographical locations in the world and must therefore be given utmost attention by the users and handled with respect. The conduct of people is something beyond definite prediction and this call for uniform legal structure that would create order in the way people use various state facilities. Internet has served the society in the right way and the worst way alike. Take the North African civil wrath on the government which began by small margin but when people resorted to the internet using its various social networking sites, the revolution came into full fledge mass anarchy that lead to the overthrowing of most of the presidents stretching into the parts of middle East predominantly occupied by Arabs. Some people have always hacked into various organizations’ privacy and posted to the public while such information may not be favorable for the public taste. Such behaviors go a long way in creating unnecessary tension in the country leading to social, economic and political instability. It is in regard to such social ills that the governments must intervene to save the community for a sustainable development and peaceful co-existence. There was the recent case where many governments were not spared either in terms of exposure of their top secrets (Axelrod-Contrada 90). This became to be dubbed wiki leaks which were all over the internet stripping various governments of their privacy. The best mode of administering effective control is from the supplier end. This simply means that the governments should task software engineers and manufacturers to install particular software that can prevent pilferage of some unwanted information. Through this filtration, it would be easy to realize that only encrypted information that has been approved is left to be accessed by people. This method would also be appropriate in instilling discipline on the people especially if those vested with power and given authority to access some classified information. Any form of unexplained misuse of power through reckless handling of sensitive information like relaying such information through unprotected paths within the internet like e-mail can easily be countered through such control measures like blocking such messages from going. Other methods that have been used include restricted sites that cannot be tried by ordinary people lest the machines used crashes and put the owner at much greater loss. Fear to wade into such zones is in itself a motivational factor which ends up controlling the way people use such sites. Some institutions of higher learning like universities or colleges have always tried to discourage the students from indulging in dirty and useless contents of the internet by peaceful campaign or other punitive measures that scare the students (The Debatabase Book 87). Face book is one of the widely used social networking sites and it cuts across the very young group to the middle adult generation. In most learning institutions students tend to spend much of their time on non constructive chats at the expense of class time and other school assignments. To curb such scenarios, the schools ensure that some sites are eliminated from the student computer laboratories and notices are issued against some sites or user internet component. In general, control may not be done directly but rather indirectly through application of some other tactics. Control must be strategized so that it does not hide the realities and ability of people in the society. In the case of internet censorship, a lot of factors need to be captured before implementation because it seems as fairly tricky to come up with one absolute method of curbing the ills inflicted by the internet users who influence of careless use of social networking sites. Education of people on the role of internet in any societal structure is conspicuously lacking (Zuchora 80). Above all, the emergence of globalization calls for the full reconsideration of the stakeholders and general community. To curb the escalating challenges posed by misuse of internet, the countries need to fund further research and development in communication technology besides reorganization of syllabus that teaches young children what to watch without any regret. Works Cited Axelrod-Contrada, Joan. Reno V. Aclu: Internet Censorship. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2007, pg90-4. Print. Deibert, Ronald. Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Cambridge, Mass: MIT, 2007,pg 47. Print. Henderson, Harry. Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology. New York: Facts on File, 2009, pg76-8. Internet resource. Morris, Nancy. Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters. Lanham [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, pg54-7. Print. The Debatabase Book: A Must-Have Guide for Successful Debate. New York: International Debate Education Association, 2009, 87-9. Print. Zuchora-Walske, Christine. Internet Censorship: Protecting Citizens or Trampling Freedom?Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2010, pg80-6. Internet resource. Read More