Establishment of Law about Internet Censorship - Essay Example

The Law about Internet Censorship Should be Established and Detailed Introduction The easy and increasing access to the internet exposes children to explicit material like pornography and fosters infringement of property rights, fraud, defamation, and cybercrime (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). The enactment of a law about internet censorship would define the controls and limits to internet access and usage thus addressing the demerits associated with internet use. Dean Baker reckons that internet censorship mandates websites to "pre-emptively screen material for potential infringements" (Silverman and Maass 1). Despite the numerous counterarguments against internet censorship, the federal government should establish and detail the law about internet censorship for the ultimate good of the society. Organization The modern technology fosters easier access and usage of the internet for various purposes. The freedom and capacity offered by the modern technology allows everybody to access and use the internet under minimal or no limitations. This exposes children to explicit material and fosters infringement of property rights, fraud, defamation, and cybercrime in the global society (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). For example, most children can access pornographic material from the internet without their parents or guardian’s consent. In order to address the demerits of internet usage, the government should enact and detail a law about internet censorship that would define the controls and limits to internet access and usage. The law will be inform of special licensing and regulation of Internet use that will enable the government to control internet access, limit internet traffic from certain servers, and discard controversial pages with illegal content (Internet Censorship Growing 2-3). Librarians, parents, organizations, and the government encounter numerous challenges in managing internet access and usage (Pautz 309). The law about internet censorship protects citizens from illegal and harmful content like child pornography (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). It also exposes the users to cybercrime, infringement of property rights, and defamation. Internet usage is now a global phenomenon that forms a universal and fundamental mode of communication that applies in school, restaurants, workplaces, and at home (Pautz 308). Users rely on the internet to pay bills, trade stocks, gamble, shop online, play games, call, chat, download television programs, play music, watch pornography, and interact through social sites (Warf 1). As a result, internet usage influences social relations, everyday life, culture, and politics (Warf 1). The debate about internet access management and enacting a law about Internet Censorship has been alive for a long time where it has attracted divided support. Some critics of the law argue that internet censorship would limit democracy by demeaning the voice of the public. President Ronald Reagan noted that the internet undermines authoritarian and repressive rule thus disregarding internet censorship (Warf 2-3). Moreover, the First Amendment in the United States and the 2000 Freedom House report protects internet usage and asserts that internet censorship would violate the freedom of speech (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). Critiques argue that internet censorship would limit education resources, attract additional costs, and affect business negatively. However, to minimize the current demerits and maximize the benefits associated from internet access and usage, many citizens and the government feels the need to establish a law about internet censorship. Research Recently, internet usage has been on an increase. As such, internet usage has influenced interpersonal interactions, entertainment, trade, architecture, everyday life, and governance (Warf 1-2). With an internet connection and a computer, everybody can access the internet and use it for communication, entertainment, and other purposes (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). Nevertheless, the ease and right to access the internet exposes the users to legal and illegal contents that derive significant effects in the society (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). As such, governments seek to protect its citizens from illegal content by establishing laws and regulations that govern internet access. Indeed, since 1995, various governments have been analyzing the problem of accessing illegal content from the internet. Notably, such content is usually harmful. Various countries have censored internet usage. Through the established laws that govern internet usage, websites have a mandate to delete illegal content and provide all records of the offender to the government (Morrow 1). For instance, Beijing censors internet usage thus preventing users in China from accessing popular social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (Morrow 1). Notably, numerous merits relate to different forms of internet censorship. This law protects children from pornography. It also protects the society from illegal activities like cybercrime, defamation, infringement of individual property like illegal downloading of music and movies. Indeed, internet censorship seeks to protect individual property and ownership thus saving many resources that the society uses to address crime. Internet censorship establishes guidelines that guarantee security for online property. As such, internet censorship prevents intellectual property from hackers. Another benefit that the law about internet censorship will derive is protecting the personal identification, finances, and personal information of the individual. Subject to these benefits, various corporates and national leaders are seeking to establish a law that will enable the federal government to censor the internet. Such laws include the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) that mandate websites to prevent intellectual property (Silverman and Maass 1). In establishing this law, governments seek to protect public morality and enhance security of intellectual property and individuals. Internet censorship would guarantee social morality and national security (Silverman and Maass 1). However, it is worth noting that establishing a law about internet censorship faces numerous technical and potential legal challenges. In fact, hackers can bypass the established censorship laws and mechanisms using advanced proxy servers. Moreover, owners of censored websites can take legal action against the government on claims of violation of human rights. Ideally, governments can initiate internet censorship at different locations like internet backbone, ISP, organizations, and individual computers (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 252). Where the government implements its regulations through the ISPs, the internet backbone supports a wide and national level censorship (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 252). As such, the government has a leeway to select the censorship method to adopt and the degree of censorship (Warf 4). The establishment and detailing of a law about internet censorship can allow unfettered information to flow or prohibit the entire access to the entire internet. However, enforcing internet censorship will be a tall order since the internet lacks a concept of legal boundaries (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). Moreover, the physical host that needs censorship may be outside the host nation thus demeaning the capacity to punish violators (Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick 251). Nevertheless, governments should design the most effective law about internet censorship to maximize the benefits of internet usage. Conclusion It is clear that internet usage and access is on the increase across the globe. This emanates from various benefits and purposes that users fulfill through the internet. However, the internet has no limitation for illegal content and anybody can access both legal and illegal information from the internet. Internet usage exposes users to explicit material like pornographic information. It also supports illegal activities like defamation, cybercrime, and infringement of individual rights. To address these issues, the federal government should enact a law about internet censorship. Nevertheless, numerous critics and impediments jeopardize the enactment and implementation of such laws despite their eminent merits. As such, the reader should support the government and other organizations in establishing an effective law about internet censorship for the ultimate good of the society. Works Cited "Internet Censorship Growing." Society 37.5 (2000): 2-3. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2014. Morrow, Will. Chinese government imposes new Internet censorship law. 7 January 2013. Web. 24 July 2014. < http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/01/07/chin-j07.html> Oh, Joon-Yeoul, and Rick A. Aukerman. "Freedom of Speech and Censorship in the Internet." International Journal of Management & Information Systems (Online) 17.4 (2013): 251-256. Pautz, Hartwig. "Managing Access to the Internet in Public Libraries." New Library World 114.7 (2013): 308-18. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2014. Silverman, Ben, and Alan Maass. A law to censor the Internet. January 18, 2012. Web. 24 July 2014. < http://socialistworker.org/2012/01/18/law-to-censor-the-internet> Warf, Barney. "Geographies of Global Internet Censorship." GeoJournal 76.1 (2011): 1-23. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2014. Read More