Internet Regulations

Do you think the Internet should be a completely free public sphere with all its positive and negative sides, or should there be control to avoid pornography or terror sites? Where does the responsibility of control reside?

The internet is a widely used mass medium accessed by anyone worldwide. It has been described as the “network or networks”- Described by Helen Roberts as the 'anything, anytime, anywhere' network (Roberts.1996). And now can be accessed virtually anywhere by numerous means – Mobile phones, datacards, laptops, portable game consoles. It is our advances in technology that allow users to connect to the internet anywhere by using various internet compatible devices. The internet is a source where people can access a range of information that would not normally be available to them through other alternative means- This data restriction in the outside world maybe the result of their age (Roberts. 1996).

The pornography and gambling industries have both taken full advantage of the internet and, according to Roberts, ‘often provide a significant source of advertising revenue for other websites’. Although governments around the world have attempted to place restrictions on both industries, the internet definitely makes it difficult to stop the popularity of such material. This widespread access to such normally restrictive information throws up many ethical debates regarding whether or not and to what extent should the internet be regulated.

In my opinion it definitely should. The advances in out technology in the past have all attracted various methods of regulation and control- our television and film mediums all hold classification restrictions and warnings, why not our internet sites? If a website contains information only suitable to a certain audience, then it should be viewed only by that audience. Take the Big Brother ‘Turkey Slapping’/assault incident. It was not screened on television due to classification issues but any person was able to view the bedroom scene via the net.In my opinion internet restriction and control is a question of commonwealth power. The question I’m proposing is how now? Why wasn’t the growth of the internet intercepted by government restrictions in previous years?