Internet Censorhip Essay, Research Paper
Internet Censorship
What is censorship? Many people view censorship as having many different meanings. However, it could be the act or process of censoring, the office or authority of a censor, or even a policy of censoring. Since censorship is a word of many meanings, in its broadest sense it refers to suppression of information, ideas, or artistic expression by anyone. “In its narrower, more legalistic sense, censorship means only the prevention by official government action of the circulation of messages already produced.” Censorship could be considered a moral issue. I believe that some of the things that are shown on the internet go against people’s religion. Some firmly believe that certain websites that are available on the internet should be censored for that reason. Every person has their own certain beliefs in God and how they feel about what is right and what is wrong. Some people may feel censorship is the moral or correct thing to do. Censorship of the internet is veiwed in many different perspectives. Some people are for censorship so they can protect their children or because they don’t believe in some of the things the net has to offer. On the other hand, some people believe that the internet should not be censored because they feel that it is okay to look at all the websites that are available. Those people feel that they should have the freedom to look at anything they please, because it is a free country. That may be true, but some things on the internet should not be revealed.
The internet is a fast way of communicating. It is a wonderful place to find facts, news and entertainment. This global resource is used by people around the world to research information and communicate by chatting and E-mail. Since the internet is such a useful source in our society, however, many people feel it should not be censored for that reason. Although people can travel around the world on a computer, that is not all they can do. People have the right to access pornography and sites containing adult material. If adults can dind these websites, so can children. Some parents want to censor the internet so they can regulate what children can find. More people wnat to leave the internet the way it is because, they, say it deprives adults from veiwing what they want. Issues such as censorship are widely debated, and there are many options of what to do, but there are seldom solutions. However, I feel the internet should be censored for many diffenet reasons.
One realistic reason the internet should be censored is because of child pornography. The term child pornography can simply be referred to as the visual depiction of a child for the sexual gratification of the user, and involves the production, distribution or use of such material. Child pornography is illegal and most people do not try to look up these websites. On the other hand, there are always those few people who disobey the law and veiw the websites that offer child pornography. Of course, those are some of the people who do not want the net to be censored. However, there are very few websites that show child pornograhpy, but it is possible to find them. The very few naked pictures of children that are shown on the net should be censored because children should not be veiwed in that way. The obscenity of child pornography could also be considered as a moral issue because there are many people who veiw it to be unreligious. People have their own beleifs and values of what they feel is right and wrong. I feel that child pornography is definately wrong and it is against my religion. This is one main reason I feel the internet should be censored.
Not only does the internet reveal child pornography, any kind of pornography can be veiwed on the net. Naked pictures of men and women can be seen on many different websites. However, this type of pornography is not illegal and does not require a certain age for veiwing it. Basically, that is the main problem. Any child under the age of eighteen can log onto the internet and look up pornography. The websites can easily be connected to and this is why most parents want those websites to be censored. The internet can be seenas a bad influence, especially in the eye’s of parents. This could also be considered a moral issue for the same reasons child pornography is. It is not morally correct and from my point of veiw, I feel that people should not be veiwing such obscenity. Although some people do not have the internet or even a computer in their home, does not meantheir child does not have access to one. Their are usually computers in school and many other places where they are accessible. Children these days are experimental, and they will look up things like pornography on the internet.
Children may not know the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and there is no regulation on pornography. It can be veiwed by any person no matter what age they are.
In our world today, there are many illegal things that are occuring. There are people getting murdered, banks getting robbed, things being stolen, and many others. The internet, however, adds to those illegal actions by teaching how to build bombs. Bombs are a very dangerous things to have and in this day and time people use them to blow up cities and destroy anything they can find. Of course, most of the people that take part in these illegal actions are criminals and terrorists. The internet is a great source to use to learn how to build bombs. This could be where some of the criminals and terrorists are getting their ideas from. There should not be any kind of instructions on the interent on how to build bombs because of all the dangers they have. Things like how to build bombs should not be discussed on the net. Issues like this is what gives people too many illegal ideas and that is what makes the world a dangerous place to live.
Learing how to hack into other people’s computers is another reason why the internet should be censored. The internet also teaches people how to actually log into someone else’s computer. If people acutually get into other peoples’ computers, they could possibly get information from them or private things they shouldn’t know about. Some people could even log into a buisness computer and take infomation they should not have. I am sure it would be illegal to log into anothers person’s computer and steel infomation, but it can be done. Censoring the internet could prevent people from accomplishing that. Another reason people hack into other peoples’ computers is to send a virus to them. If a virus is sent to another computer, it could delete any important information that computer was storing. A virus can be very dangerous becuase it can cause the computer to have many problems. A virus can delete anything the computer has stored in its memory or any programs that are installed into the computer.
Believe it or not, the internet can also be used for getting music illegally. This could possibly decrease the business of a music store that sells compact discs. It is possible to illegally get music off of the internet which causes less people to buy compact discs at music stores. Some people actually go on the internet and find the music or song that they are looking for and steal it off the net. That is illegal because people are basically stealing the song instead of purchasing it. If the net was censored, people would not get to steal songs off the internet.
The internet is a great way to research and learn things from, but some of the content and the things it allows people to do is extreme. Bill Clinton signed an important Act back in 1996 that created come censorship on the internet. The Communications Decency Act, is a section in the Telocommunications Law that has created a chilling effect on the internet, and is likely to cause long term complications if it becomes intact. Some people think that provision of the law is overly broad and will cause so much chaos that the internet will be hard-pressed to grow as a community. The bill reads that community standards will be used, among other things to determine what is indecent or morally offensive. I feel that this Act is appropriate because it could possibly cut out some of the things that really need to be censored. I think pornography, especially child pornography should be censored because people should not be veiwing those websites. Children under the age of eighteen should not be looking at nude pictures because some are too young or too immature to be aquiring knowledge about sexual issues. One the other hand, I feel that there are some issues that should not be censored by the Communications Decency Act. Subject content that ranges from breat cancer, medical research, rape survivor support, commentary and reports from war zone around the world, child abuse support, abortion, and many others should not be taken off the internet. Those are actual issues that the important and apply to life. “The Communications Decency Act should not pertain to situations where people participating in a breast cancer support group have their E-mail seized or accounts suspended because the word “breast” appeared in their E-mail messages too often.” However, the Communications Decency Act could regulate some of the obscenity shown on the internet. About two years this Act was brought up. It has been trying to go into effect for two years now. At one point, the Communications Decency Act was affective. Much of the indecent information found on the internet was taken off. Many people protested against having any kind of censorship on the internet. People felt that the parents should censor what their children veiw on the net, not the government. Sometimes parents cannot always keep an eye on what their children are doing. If children are exploring on the internet, they can log into any kind of website that is available. Some parents, however, do not seem even worried about what content their child veiws on the net. Every family teaches different values of how they want their children to be. The indecency shown on the internet may not be an issue in some families. On the other hand, there is always people who feel the opposite. I feel that internet should be censored because I would not want any of my children looking at indecent pictures or learning how to do certain things that are illegal.
Censorship, however, is an important issue in our society. Since the internet is used everyday all over the world, most people do not see the need for it to be censored. People feel they have the right to freedom of speech and they can express anything that needs to be said. Expressing different veiws, every person has there own view on censorship. I am definately for censorship for some of the reasons I expressed. Anti-censorship obviously outweighs pro-censorship and that is one of the main reasons the Communications Decency Act is unaffective. I feel that the internet is just as useful without the obscenity and some of the bad things it teaches.