Why should the Internet be censored or regulated?
1. I personally believe that the
Internet should not be censored because every day it is changing how our world
works and it has become the focus of so many lives; to censor or regulate the
Internet would be denying every human a chance to participate in a future with
technology. And where would we be without technology? We certainly wouldn’t be
here. On the other hand, I chose to be a “devil’s advocate”, so for this
assignment I’m going to go with: I believe the Internet should be moderated
because although the good may outweigh the bad, the bad is bad enough to be a
concern.
a. People can look up how to build
bombs, steal, get away with murder [Casey Anthony who looked up how to], hack into people’s bank accounts
[Anonymous in 2011 to give to charity], freely bully each other and
children [link], and some might argue that the
Internet promotes child pornography [Page 9].
Why shouldn’t the
Internet be censored or regulated?
I do
not believe government needs to watch over our every move. The internet lets us
have free speech, we have the freedom to find any internet site we want and we
have to pay for internet, so it doesn’t make sense to me that it should be limited.
Which opinion is more
common amongst the general public?
1. My “devil’s advocate” opinion is
probably not shared by the majority of people because I think people simply
want full Internet freedom, regardless of the fact that not everybody thinks
the same and thus, not everyone is subjectively well-minded.
2. My opinion is shared by most
students. They tend to believe the same thing I do, which is people have a
right to roam the internet without constant surveillance. Do we really want to
live in a society where everything is controlled by the government? The answer
is: of course not! We like our internet the way it is.
What personal
opinions influence your beliefs on this topic?
1. To put it simply, although I do want
Internet freedom, I do not want people to be able to look up build bombs in
order to threaten governments or civilians, to look up how to suffocate
full-proof, especially not children, nor do I want children or people to bully
children [if I see someone bullying a child I view myself as the type of person
to get involved and tell them to knock it off, but how can anybody do that when
children are not being monitored and nor is the Internet?]. No matter how
people view me, I don’t want my bank account hacked so someone can donate to
charity when I can barely afford to make it on my own. Finally, there is
nothing anyone can say to me which can justify child pornography specifically.
It’s not right and some can argue that pornography can lead to someone taking
it further, and once again, there is nothing anyone can say which will justify
that to me.
2. I have found the internet to be
very useful. There has been multiple times where I have needed quick
information about a topic, and the internet provided me with the information. I
enjoy going on Facebook, and checking on Twitter, I know I am not doing any
harm to anybody, so what should I get rid of it?
3. People have the right to freedom
of speech and the blocking of the internet sites that the government wants is
affecting our way to have freedom of speech.
Sources used?
Common
ground?
From a
devil’s advocate’s perspective, perhaps if the Internet was moderately
regulated or maybe even open-regulated, by the people of the world, for the
people of the world, then they could determine by a majority vote what would be
appropriate to be on the Internet.
We have
both agreed that it is really easy to learn how to build a bomb or even break
into someone’s house, so is this case we do think the internet should be
monitored, but only if it is something which is endangering other human beings.
How can people who disagree on this topic maintain
their own opinions while respecting each other?
1. People would have to justify how
having such unfortunate things on the Internet is worth the destruction.