Internet regulation describes initiatives by various organizations and agencies to control or restrict access to certain aspects of information. One of the most common forms of internet regulation is the regulation is the censorship of data and information among the internet users within a certain location. One of the examples is when the government of India censored the use of internet of internet services (Fisher, 2012). This was due to the spread of negative ethnicity messages over social media platforms. China also restricted regulations on the use of internet. Some of the aspects that were under restriction include regulating the use of pseudonyms (Bradsher, 2012). Egypt also took their technological advancement to the internet regulation activities. This was in the bid to have some superiority over other Arab countries in the Middle East. On the other hand, United States has always been against any internet censorship initiatives (Glanz & Markoff, 2011). This has always been embedded on the freedom of expression platforms.
Internet regulation is very essential in the society today. This is because the society is characterized with a lot of moral and ethical decay. If the internet is not regulated, most people will misuse it and make it to facilitate selfish intentions. Taking the case of India’s ethnic violence, misuse of the internet led to heating up the political temperatures leading to violence (Fisher, 2012). Using the example of the Arab Spring, it is also evident that without internet regulation selfish interests can be advanced through the use of technological superiority to cause suppression on other parties. Internet regulation is very essential in governance. This is because it can be used to reduce crime by disclosure of the real identities of the accounts that are operated on social media. This can be very critical towards curbing crime activities.
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Regulation of internet can lead to violation of rights of different people. This includes denial for the freedom of speech and expressions through the social media platforms. This situation portrays a dictatorship form of governance in which whatever an individual expresses has to be give consent from the authorities. However, the concept of freedom of speech fails to have logical support in certain situations. For instance, when an individual uses freedom of expression to interfere with other people’s lifestyles through propagation of unethical messages over the internet. This also includes the use of social media to commit crime that should be regulated by the relevant security agencies.
- Bradsher, Keith. China Toughens Its Restrictions on Use of the Internet. August 2012. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/29/world/asia/china-toughens-restrictions-on-internet-use.html?ref=internetcensorship&_r=0
- Fisher, Max. When Is Government Web Censorship Justified? An Indian Horror Story. The Atlantic Monthly. August, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/when-is-government-web-censorship-justified-an-indian-horror-story/261396/
- Glanz, James & Markoff, John. Egypt Leaders Found off Switch for Internet. The New York Times. February 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/technology/16internet.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
