Internet Censorship
Personal Recommendation - Ryan Solheim
From a sociological standpoint the United States was founded on the constitution and the Bill of Rights and the lives and laws of the people have been structured around the beliefs stated in it (CDT 2). Although some materials have been censored in the nations past, it has been years since a book has been published, and since pages on the internet, like a book, must be sought out, this material should be judged like a book (CDT 16).
Therefore the responsibility on to what can be viewed online should not rest upon a government, which is unable to make case by case decisions, but instead by individuals whom know what should be allowable on their personal computers (EiE 5). The greatest example of this is a parent purchasing and installing a program that events their child from viewing explicit material online, while still allowing the adults the freedom that they have earned (EiE p Safety Tools).
"Feminists Against Censorship believes that the dangers of censorship are far too great to allow such a weapon to be given to those in power. The harms claimed for entertainment materials are overblown and for the most part based on myth and misrepresentation of research. There is no evidence that censorship protects the public, and we should be very wary of those who claim to censor for our benefit." –Avedon Carol (Hewett 9).
The history of censorship, in all forms, shows it in several instances as keeping the truth from the public, whither it be the ancient shaping of nations at the expenses of individuals, the Catholic Inquisition, Nazi Germanys’ book burning, the USSR’s iron curtain, or the modern day censorship in China there are too many cases where censorship has been taken to the extreme for people to not be wary of it (Newth).
In conclusion although the internet can be accessed by anyone, contain indecent and offensive material, and be used for illegal activities it should remain a free and open internet because of the First Amendment to the Constitution, the inaccuracy of blocking technology, the treatment of the internet as a media, and the history of censorship.
Therefore the responsibility on to what can be viewed online should not rest upon a government, which is unable to make case by case decisions, but instead by individuals whom know what should be allowable on their personal computers (EiE 5). The greatest example of this is a parent purchasing and installing a program that events their child from viewing explicit material online, while still allowing the adults the freedom that they have earned (EiE p Safety Tools).
"Feminists Against Censorship believes that the dangers of censorship are far too great to allow such a weapon to be given to those in power. The harms claimed for entertainment materials are overblown and for the most part based on myth and misrepresentation of research. There is no evidence that censorship protects the public, and we should be very wary of those who claim to censor for our benefit." –Avedon Carol (Hewett 9).
The history of censorship, in all forms, shows it in several instances as keeping the truth from the public, whither it be the ancient shaping of nations at the expenses of individuals, the Catholic Inquisition, Nazi Germanys’ book burning, the USSR’s iron curtain, or the modern day censorship in China there are too many cases where censorship has been taken to the extreme for people to not be wary of it (Newth).
In conclusion although the internet can be accessed by anyone, contain indecent and offensive material, and be used for illegal activities it should remain a free and open internet because of the First Amendment to the Constitution, the inaccuracy of blocking technology, the treatment of the internet as a media, and the history of censorship.
