The Importance Of Internet Censorship

When discussing internet censorship, one of the major concerns is what children can see on the internet. Internet censorship was a huge deal during the 1990’s and early 2000’s and it still is to this very day. The internet back then was much different than it is today. Back then, we could only access the internet from a computer and most people didn’t own one back then. Nowadays, most people have multiple computers and a cell phone that can access the internet. It was easier for parents to control what their children could have access to back then. Now, parents can still put restrictions on the router settings and set a timer for when the internet shuts off but kids can always just go somewhere else that may have internet access to view any

The internet is a place where people from all over the world can connect with others who have similar interests as well as share information on almost any topic. While the internet has brought us closer together as a global society some people believe that what is on the internet should be censored. While the content of the internet should have to comply with the laws of the country it is being accessed in I do not believe that there should be any further restrictions as to what viewed on the internet.

In today’s society an innumerable amount of discussions, disputes, and altercations have begun based on the broad matter of censorship and its many components. Censorship is commonly described as the process of controlling the information and ideas that circulate throughout a society and its inhabitants. Much of the world’s censoring transpires through the world wide web, popularly known as the internet, and is generally inflicted by the government and other powerful corporations who “contend with the issue on numerous occasions” (“Topic Overview” 1). Due to the topic being so controversial, both proponents and opponents accompany the longstanding argument. Those in favor of censoring the usage of

George Bernard Shaw once said, “The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” Internet censorship is the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. In other words, one day you might not be able to Google everything you want to know as you can now. Although the Internet can be a dangerous without caution, countries need not to censor the Internet for their own selfish reasons. Internet censorship is a form of a dictatorship, and they can cause riots as well as take away our first amendment right.

"Censoring the internet would take away individual or group rights. If the internet would be censored the government would band information online that is thought to be objectionable or dangerous. The remove of ideas that are available to society online would prejudge the material for everyone and take away the option of making one’s own opinions on given topics. This removal of information would take away the right to fear all sides of every issue and to make individualized judgments on those issues. These rights are protected under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. The First Amendment was passed by Congress on September 25, 1789 and it states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment

The government believes certain things should be censored and perhaps paid for in order to be used by everyone. Many disagree with this and say that their freedom of speech rights are somewhat violated. In Regulation and Technology, Falzone says, “The government has a role to play. It needs to protect the public good by keeping the structure open and preserving the ability of new participants to use the network in new and unforeseen ways.” Basically the internet has standards to maintain and they want them to be protected at all

Since the internet is a huge platform, for the government to be able to regulate every single thing that would be a threat or is meant to hurt someone is next to impossible. Many big social media companies regulate their website by algorithm, when a certain amount of people report a post that is offensive or is meant to hurt someone emotionally, it will be taken down. According to Self-regulation of Internet Content, “Filtering technology can empower users by allowing them to select the kinds of content they and their children are exposed to. Used wisely, this technology can help shift control of and responsibility for harmful content from governments, regulatory agencies, and supervisory bodies to individuals” (Pg.9). Therefore, regulating the content that is posted on the internet is a crucial step that is needed to be taken to insure that people are not able to emotionally hurt someone with an internet

With the advent of the World Wide Web in 1989, people across the world gained access to an ever-increasing well of information. Access to this information could be at risk, however, with increasing amounts of censorship arising in nations across the world. Internet censorship is when groups attempt to prevent users from accessing certain information that they decided is unnecessary or wrong to view. The censorship users are subject to is important to acknowledge as it can affect access to content and the amount of content created, as well as potentially preventing discussion, even for non-controversial topics. There are several ways you could approach the topic of internet censorship, all of which have differing degrees of success in their methods of attack and lasting effects on the internet ecosystem. The best solution is to take more of a laissez-faire approach and scale back the amount of censorship currently present, allowing users to govern themselves, instead of trying to enforce rules put in place by a governing entity or private company, or trying to reach a middle ground on what should or should not be censored.

I think there are important aspects on both side of whether the internet should be regulated. But my gut feeling is that it should not be regulated. According to the Oxford dictionary, the meaning of freedom is ‘the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants’. Censorship overlooks people’s right of freedom. Some of the reasons why censorship should not be regulated is that it limits freedom of the press, and speech which is in violation of the 1st amendment. Censorship takes away freedom to express yourself. Another reason is that it would restrict access to essential information that could be important. When making educated decisions regarding something you might not make the best decision if you do not get all the answers. Censorship

With how vast and expansive the internet is today, online censorship is a huge debate that will always be ongoing. There are mainly two sides of this debate. One side says that online censorship is needed no matter what, and the other side says that the internet is free and that the internet can never be controlled by the on company or even the government. While both sides have a great point, there is still a side to take.

The internet has allowed for instantaneous transfer of ideas, images, videos, texts, news and anything else that can be represented on a screen that “confines of powerful and interlocking institutions: family, education, entertainment, commerce, career, the law, the military, religion and others”(Source D). In the United States, some claim that if these “institutions” were to offer too much freedom they would be unable to “perpetuate the social relations that keep them functioning”. If the internet were to be censored, important ideas would be silenced and individuals' freedom would be diminished. For instance, the government could hide information that makes them look bad or they could censor opposing ideas. Ideas do not belong to anyone, so humans should have the freedom to sift through any and every idea, image or information source on the Internet, and nobody should be able to take away someone's freedom to share

Pornography goes much farther than this. Pedophiles use pornography on the Internet to abduct and exploit children. "The Washington Post reported on a case where a group of investigators signed on to a major computer service with false identifications and pretended to be children. They posted a few innocuous messages on teen bulletin boards and the next day they had 'solicitations for nude pictures, phone sex, and offers to meet in person for sex'"(Exon, 436). This kind of situation needs to be prevented and censorship would do just that.

These days the internet has become an essential part to living for almost everyone but one of the controversial topics that people bring up is that whether or not the government should regulate information on the internet. Both sides have valid points which form a reasonable argument. Some people would say that they need to because of the dangers lurking around in the cyber world but the reasons for why the government shouldn’t regulate the Internet outnumber the reasons for why they should. The federal government should not regulate or censor information on the internet because doing so violates the first amendment and citizen’s right to privacy, degrades the educational value of the web, prevents the promotion and facilitation of

It is obvious that for years, the government has been trying to regulate this type of content but has seen very limited success. Part of the reason for this is because certain regulatory actions intended to protect only a small group, such as children, should not require the prohibition of material that adults have access to in other arenas. It is for example, legal for people to rent pornographic movies or buy nude magazines, so distribution of this type of material on the Internet should not be completely limited. People shouting out for protection of their 1st Amendment rights have made a good point when arguing against complete censorship. What seems more feasible is a sort of multi-layered approach to regulate illegal and harmful content on the Net. This would make it possible to form some sort of insulation for children

Internet censorship is developing far and wide and influences us, regardless that as United States citizens, we have additional technological opportunities than what many other nations do. Numerous Americans underestimate the opportunities that living in the United States permits us. Whether we are sending electronic mail, posting on our social media pages, or seeking out the latest news, we are ensured the opportunity of self-expression and an inexhaustible amount of information right at our fingertips. Censorship takes control of people's expression, and many countries, governments, and leaders support it for this reason. Internet Censorship in the United States in comparison to different nations brings to light the global and ethical issue regarding the basic human rights of education, communication, and freedom.