In today’s day and age, the internet is the primary way that people look up information and communicate with one another. Unfortunately, because its available to anyone, that means that some people misuse the internet and use it to showcase and share inappropriate, illegal or otherwise unsavory text, videos and images. As a result, internet censorship has become necessary to protect children and others who don’t want to be exposed to such stuff. But is it always a good thing?
The biggest reason why internet censorship is so important is to protect users, especially children. Online crime happens all the time and being a victim of child pornography, sexual predators, or cyber bullying is a public issue that concerns anyone who uses the internet. This helps weed out the bad guys and gives children and adults worldwide a sense of security online.
Internet filtering is something that many parents advocate because it keeps their kids from being exposed to adult content and situations at a young age. It’s also a good idea for people engaging in online dating, women particularly. It keeps such people safe from criminals or predators who are looking to harm them.
Another issue is email spam and pop up ads. Unfortunately, this occurs no matter the user and sometimes the emails or pop ups are targeted at an adult audience but appear on a child’s screen. Internet censorship helps keep this under control and offers a net of safety that can protect against this. This also protects email users by keeping their personal information private, cutting down on the risk of identity theft.
In addition to protecting against identity theft, internet censorship also protects general privacy. It keeps hackers from invading a person’s personal space by hiding important data, such as addresses, phone numbers and banking information. This also keeps photos, videos and personal documents safe and secure, even when kept online.
Finally, internet censorship helps control crime. As mentioned previously, online crime is a problem, but using censorship measures lets the authorities stay on top of things and catch the bad guys, which protects individuals, but also keeps communities and groups safe and secure as well.
While many people are on the side of internet censorship, some are not. As with anything, there are pros and cons to censoring what’s on the internet. The primary disadvantage is that it restricts what kinds of information users can find. For example, Australia has recently cracked down on pirated information, cutting back on what people who live there have access to on the internet.
Additionally, censoring what’s on the internet is said to slow progress. It can make it hard to share and present new and relevant information that is valuable to people everywhere. By putting restrictions on what can be online, certain people and populations will be behind the times.
Internet censorship, as an idea, is a good one. It offers protection for vulnerable internet users and keeps personal data safe from those who want to steal it. However, strict censorship does a disservice to users. For now, it’s generally agreed that censorship is necessary, but not in all cases. What side of the issue are you on?
