Has the time come to censor the internet?

1. 86

   Beata Stasakposted 15 years ago

   Has the time come to censor the internet?
   
   Internet providers know their rights but ignore their responsibility to operate for the sake of the greatest public good. The problem with censorship is: what is adequate and who will decide? What about the web fitler and an independent interernet watching body free from Political Interfernece, but then everything is offensive to someone, is it? Maybe we just need to realize that freedom always goes hand-in-hand with responsibility...

   replyreport
2. 82

   wychicposted 15 years ago

   I'd agree that it's the latter...in order to be free, you are keeping the responsibility for yourself. If you do not want the responsibility you hand it off to someone else, and so by definition are no longer free. Personally I don't agree with censorship of any kind, as there really is no entity free from any kind of political influence, and intelligent humans are fully capable of choosing for themselves what they believe and what they do with the information they read. By giving someone else the right to withhold information from you, you are giving them the power to influence how you think, how you perceive the world, and what kind of feedback you get from the world at large. We want to be free, and we are free to be offended by anything we see in any media, as we are also free to abstain from reading/watching/listening if we do not wish to be exposed to potentially offensive material.

   replyreport
3. 59

   MickSposted 15 years ago

   we don't want to be exposed to offensive material, whatever offensive means to each individual, but it doesn't always work, I used to play 5 string banjo, arthritis put a stop to that; however, I once found a site, or was it a news group: 5-string banjo, claw-hammer style, I called the missus to have a look, as she got next to me I clicked it, and the screen filled up with porn?
   'independent internet watching body free from political interference',
   dream on, politicians get their sticky little fingers into any pie they can find, it all adds to their power and control freak urges.

   replyreport
4. 73

   LeanManposted 15 years ago

   It is already censored!!!
   
   Depending on the country that you search from will depend on what you can find according to the rules of that country.. It is also the case that your surfing is being monitored..

   replyreport
5. 65

   justomposted 15 years ago

   F*ck censorship, the only thing missing is U :-)

   replyreport
6. 61

   inspiredbydgposted 14 years ago

   
   
   No censor of the internet; it's one of the best places to expand ones life; enhance ones life and the internet is useful for those to choose something even better from what is not wanted so allow all of the internet to continue; it's a big kitchen and not everything is for everyone; we can choose and pick what is for the individual.
   
   Good question thanks!

   replyreport
7. 75

   Phasmatisposted 14 years ago

   No and we need to defend the internets freedom from the government. It is not their tool, it is not their right to tell us what we can and can't read.
   
   Market forces will take care of these things. If you don't like what a website is saying don't go to it. Enough people don't go to it it goes under or whatever and another one rises to popularity. No unnatural censoring is necisary.
   
   Then you have the First amendment which says freedom of speech.

   replyreport
8. 69

   MOEFLATSposted 14 years ago

   Maybe we need to understand that FREEDOM IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVELEDGE.  Our country is now a techno-fascist police-state and you have the stupidity to consider internet censorship a viable option.  Do you love fascism?  Like people even MORE lobotomized and mentally-butchered?  Either you are a Nazi or you are just plain confused!

   replyreport
9. 80

   Express10posted 12 years ago

   There will never be a time for mass censorship. Porn can easily be found online and off, same for drugs, and other horrible things if that is truly what on is looking for. Employers should be able to block the internet during work hours for employees using company computers when their jobs do not require the internet.
   
   However, one of the most dangerous things that the internet can easily afford comes from REPUTABLE sources. That thing is accurate information. This is the reason that countries like China censor the internet to ensure that massive numbers of people don't rise up and demand the truth and more from their government.
   
   Who decides whether or not IP providers have been operating for the sake "of the greatest public good?" Would this be done by a chosen few or worse, a single individual, that would benefit from keeping others in the dark and limiting the mobility of TRILLIONS of dollars worth of transactions carried out completely online?
   
   We have many in politics that don't operate for the sake of the greatest public good and people VOTE them into office. Further, whenever individuals and large groups of citizens allow their freedoms to be stripped in the name of protection or safety, nothing but headaches and more bureaucracy is introduced in it's wake.

   replyreport