Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace
This chapter in A Gift of Fire, by Sarah Baase, concerns our First amendment rights (freedom of speech and press), and government controls on what we can put on the Internet. The Internet is such a beneficial way to communicate and send out ideas, because we can get them out to so many people. The problem is that there are many harmful items online that people believe should be censored, at least from young children. The Internet is now the easiest medium we have where we are able to share our ideas, so this is not only a very good thing, but also very bad. We finally have a source where we can share our ideas without restrictions, but we also now have easier ways of spreading pornography, spam, and has also created new avenues for pedifiles. So the question is, does government control over the Internet benefit us in the sense that we are safe from unwanted junk mail, pornography, and pedifiles; or does it harm us in the sense that we are being prevented from excercizing our First amendment rights? Are we willing to give up out rights to protect our children, or is this too large a price to pay?
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2 comments:
Allowing the government to protect our own children is a responsibility that parents give to the government. The Internet it a great way for people to express ideas and opinions, but at what extent are these opinions and comments uncalled-for. If someone states that another person’s opinion is un-called for, this opens up opportunities for anyone to claim that anything should be censored. More and more simple and less affective items on the Internet are being told to be blocked. If someone was wearing a gray shirt and another person said that they do not like the color gray because it makes them upset, should they be convicted of a crime for wearing that color? Just because peoples actions effect others personal opinions, it does not necessarily mean that they have committed a crime going against freedom of speech. They express themselves through their clothing, disregarding how feel.
If the government was to protect children from the "bad information" on the Web, then anything could be censored. Everyone thinks differently, what one individual views as acceptable someone else might think its offensive. Shouldn't the internet stay the way it is? The more censorship that occurs, the more rights or privileges we are losing.
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