Cyber Bullying Regulation

The Internet has become ingrained into all of life’s processes. It has been our go-to – whether networking with others, storing files, emails, gaming, and so forth. This information highway has opened so many options, for better and for worse. The debate on the pros and cons of censoring and controlling the Internet will continue to wage on, but here is my take on the matter.

Piracy and accessing/sharing copyrighted material illegally was discussed in a previous assignment’s discussion boards; while attempts have been made to regulate this, we are a long way away from truly regulating this problem. Formal regulation of the Internet would give the resources needed to truly enforce this.

One extreme pro is the role the Internet plays in terrorism. Terrorists manipulate the Internet to advance their agendas that reinforce social upheaval and agitation or inequalities. It can be a powerful force to gather the masses and cause uprising, such as the powers ISIS gained online.

Regulation of the Internet could reduce many “dark web” activities that continue to grow and plague us. Activities such as human trafficking, child pornography, theft and sale of personal information could be regulated and controlled.

Internet regulation could help tamper cyberbullying and apply consequences for failing to follow the law. There is much search on the effects of cyberbullying and defamation in general; with the power of social media, younger people are twice as likely to commit self-harm after experiencing cyberbullying, which often goes unreported and is usually based in “trolling” or just people having fun at others’ expense.

While filters have been increasing and public knowledge is increasing day by day, regulation could hinder the amount of spam emails and phishing. Phishing is the act of using links that appear to be reputable, but once clicked, gives the senders access to the receiver’s personal information and/or files, networks, etc.

Regulation destroys the premise in which the Internet was created – to allow free flow of all information to all users and to not discriminate on any data. These laws would impose restrictions and could potentially give government total control of all aspects of technology. It would no longer flow freely.

As with any behavior, these laws will not hinder the acts occurring; it will only cause those who partake in these actions to become more cunning. There is an interesting article on how we as humans are taught at a young age how to lie and deceive in order to stay out of trouble. At first, we are no good at it, and the external stimuli we receive teach us how we can avoid those feelings the next time. Any time a child says “yes” to touching something, they are disciplined. The next time they are asked, they lie and say “no” so that they are not disciplined again.

It would be near impossible to cease activity internationally. Technology is already in place to utilize proxy servers to disguise the location of a person’s computer. Someone in the USA can change their IP address using a virtual private network (VPN) to a Russian location where the laws are completely different. In order to further complicate this, a person can utilize onion routers, which jumps their connection through multiple countries, making this even more difficult to pin the location down. Law officials in that country rely on all countries having open communication to lock down the culprit – something that works in the culprit’s favor as of late as we are far from all countries working together.

When the Internet is used in an “illegal” or questionable fashion that differs from its intent, it makes policymakers nervous and seek out ways to control its use. Just as its manipulation has gotten out of hand, its regulation could fall into the same trap where the legislation destroys the very benefit for the Internet's existence and becomes a political tool. It is in all of our best interests to utilize the powers of the Internet for good; in my opinion, the cons of regulation and their consequences, though fewer, far outweigh the pros of government regulation. Just ask the countries like Eritrea or North Korea.

 

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