The greatest service that the internet provides is a convenient, accessible form of communication and expression. As it becomes more widespread across the world, fair access is definitely something that should be considered and think in the future people should have the option of at least one net netural internet provider.Regardless of where we are and who we are surrounded by, the internet allows us to learn what is going on in the minds of other people around the world. While this is a blessing, there can also be a downside, as many choose to express and share extremely unpleasant things on the internet. While there may be cases were such things should be limited, we have to be very careful about how much censorship we will tolerate as a society, or else our freedom of speech on the internet may be pulled out right from under us.
I agree with our government’s belief that speech that presents a clear and present danger to the safety of others should not be allowed. I like this idea because it stops speech that can harm others but the requirements of “clear and present” make it hard to abuse this rule to enforce censorship. I think such speech should not be allowed on the internet and support tech companies taking down such content. Beyond speech that presents a danger, I do not believe anything else should be required to be censored. When a website that promotes open and transparent communication, such as Twitter, starts censoring speech on their platform I worry because what we as the public see is based on their discretion, and I’m not sure we can always trust their discretion. Once we as a society start accepting censorship, we leave the door open for those with influence to censor to their advantage. I know it’s starting to sound like a cliche to say that this is a slippery slope to becoming like China, but this is the reality that exists on the other side of the world in a country where censorship is clearly abused. I thought Rayyan brought up a good point in class where he pointed out how the Chinese government uses their negative classifications of the Uyghurs to limit their speech. Our government and tech corporations as well likely have groups that they aren’t fond of, once we tolerate censorship we are making it easy for them to silence those groups. It may seem like it we should easily be able to recognize and go against censorship that is unjust, but we must remember that if the internet is censored we may be unaware of the reality of the situation, and therefore we could be ignorant of such injustice. I’m pretty sure many of the people in China would be against the unfair treatment of the Uyghurs if they were fully aware of it, but thanks to censorship they are not. Another reason I do not support most censorship on the internet is that I think it’s important for us to be aware of what others think and believe, regardless of whether we agree with it or not. Simply censoring others doesn’t solve the problem, it just makes us unaware of it. Another student in class brought up a great point when he said that the problem with removing all racist posts on social media is that then people on social media will have the misconception no longer exists. When you censor immoral thoughts, you are not resolving them but rather hiding them. When people who say terrible things are removed from the mainstream popular platforms, where they would see a majority of contrasting views, they tend to go to more infamous platforms that become echo chambers for people who think like them. Now these people are no longer exposed to contrasting views, while the mainstream general public will have the misconception that these people no longer exist. The unfortunate reality is that there are people in this world who will express thoughts and beliefs that we will find unpleasant and hurtful, but I think it is important that we remain aware of that reality, because it’s that awareness will drive us to improve the situation, rather than ignore it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMarcos Salamanca Archives
October 2019
Categories |