In Favor:-
- Even though the internet is giving access to information to all for free, it is increasingly turning into a breeding ground for violent behaviour. Criminals are spreading hate content and impacting innocent youth.
- Sexually explicit content on the internet is misguiding children and youth. It encourages violence and gender stereotypes.
- Terrorists are recruiting innocent youth through the internet. Censorship helps in stopping these activities.
- Cyberbullying is on the rise. It affects not just individuals but families and society.
- Internet censorship helps in maintaining Cybersecurity.
- Rapidly increasing piracy need to be curtailed through censorship.
- Spreading fake news has become common these days. But they are rarely penalized. Blocking the websites that originate fake news, creates fear and acts as a deterrent.
- Misleading ads such as losing weight, skin brightening are trapping innocents and causing financial loss.
- Dangerous clips such as sexual abuse on women and children are increasingly uploaded on the internet impacting innocent minds.
- Human traffickers are using the internet to grow their exploitative business. Censoring the internet impacts them and can reduce human trafficking.
- The present generation of children are exposed to hate content, adult sites and misleading content. To protect children and adolescents, and to restore moral values, censorship is needed.
- Some people are defaming their enemies as a revenge tactic. Punishment and censorship will help in solving such kind of problems.
Against:-
- Internet censorship violates the right to freedom of speech and expression.
- Internet censorship will lead to the concentration of power in the hands of the government. It may block access to honest criticism on government, opposition parties’ websites in the name of ‘hate speech. It will lead to dictatorship.
- At present the Internet has equality. Anyone can write and publish their content easily. With censorship, money power may rule the internet. Rich people can write anything, but the poor may have to go through a lot to not get blocked.
- Radical changes in society may not spread easily with censorship. Leaders with orthodox beliefs will not accept change and may censor content such as articles on allowing women to places of worship.
- As everyone has different opinions on what is good and what is bad, every content that is censored can lead to protests.
The situation in India:-
- In India, pirated content is removed, if the content creator goes to court. These days this option is increasingly utilized.
- In 2015, 32 websites were banned in India including Daily motion, GitHub, Vimeo as they could host terror content relating to ISIS. But this ban too was lifted later.
The situation in other countries:-
- Chinese have no access to Google, Facebook, Twitter.
Conclusion:-
Censoring the Internet will not be accepted by many because of its vulnerability to power politics. But there is a dire need to monitor the content on the internet to trap criminals and to protect society from the evil side of the internet.
Your Turn…
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