Censoring the Web
You can find anything on the web if you know the place to look but, is it a good thing, or should there be any restrictions on what’s available? Some content found on the Internet is far more unpleasant than what can be found in books, films, magazines on television. Most countries have laws about what can be published in print or shown on screen. Should the web be any different?
The law stops children from buying or renting videos, or seeing films that are rated to be explicit or not suitable for their age group. But children may be exposed to undesirable material, unrestricted, on the web.
Censorship:
Censorship is the restriction of what people are allowed to hear, see or read. It can be used to protect people from material that can damage or upset them. It can be used to restrict people’s freedom, by controlling their accesses to information that might use in undesirable ways.
There is no worldwide censorship of the web, but many countries have laws that apply to the web and media. For example, in the UK, certain types of pornography are illegal. The material can’t be sold in print, shown in films or on any UK website. There is nothing to stop others from viewing these things that have been published elsewhere. As the internet is international, anyone in the UK can look at a site hosted abroad.
What should we censor?
Countries have different views on censoring the web. In the West, our aims tend to be protect children and other impressionable people; to restrict pornographic or violent material; to block information that encourage’s crime; and to prevent people saying abusive things about other individuals or groups. However, this is not the same worldwide. In same countries, the state might want to censor sites that suggest a way of life they don’t agree with.
Against censorship:
Some people think that although it’s right to protect children, by using censorship, adults should be free to do as they please. They say that adults are able to act responsibly and don’t need to be protected from anything. For example we expect most people will drive cars safely, even though they could kill someone while driving. People who are against censorship believe in freedom of information. They also feel that there should be no limits to what people can say, or hear or view, in the media or Internet, or by means of communication.
For censorship:
Other people think that we should all be protected from most unpleasant material. People for censorship believe that if we see too much violence, we may become hardened to it and accept or carry out violence in the real world more readily. There are also arguments that sexual or violence in films, websites or computers games can be upsetting and damaging to the mind. So they believe there should be a ban on what is dangerous for protection, of oneself that can cause physical harm.
Reference: A. Rooney, Tomorrow’s Science: Internet Technologies, Chrysalis Children’s Books, London, 2003, pgs: 16-17
