The Internet And Jeremy Bentham's Model Of The Panopticon

Robbery, rape, homicide, etc. are being joined by another threat. The increase in popularity of the Internet over the years has resulted in the creation of a new type of crime, cybercrime. With that, came along a new concern: the need for safety and surveillance on the Internet. This has created a certain type of Panoptic society and displays the way in which people are subject to behave when they know that a higher power such as the Federal Government and even local law enforcement agencies have the ability to access their information via computer systems. Cybercrime can be defined in many ways whether it’s money laundering, bullying, fraud, or stalking. Each of these crimes are especially now more opportune because of the Internet and
A central tower, however they are not aware of whom or what is watching them. Michael Focault theorizes that their knowledge of being watched and inability to see who exactly is watching them is what keeps them in order and is why they behave the way they do. “Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable; the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so.” (Focault 231) This is similar to our Internet run society today. Although Internet users are not completely aware of who is able to view their account and cannot verify anything when it comes to who is searching through their information, they are aware and can see that someone has access to their information. Some say that the anonymity of the Internet
“…power is exercised without division, according to a continuous hierarchal figure, in which each individual is constantly located, examined, and distributed among the living beings, the sick, and the dead-all this constitutes a compact model of the disciplinary mechanism.” (Focault 227) This is seen when dealing with cybercrimes as well. For instance, if a student is scrolling through their Facebook feed and comes across an act of cyber bullying, they are inclined to inform a member of authority. The student informs their school principal. With the laws that are present today the principal is required to inform authorities of this act of harassment. The act is then investigated further by this higher power and is then consequence accordingly. Schools today are very informant and strict when it comes to cybercrimes, especially involving forms of bullying and harassment. Students today are more likely to be more cautious while on the Internet because they know how easy it is to be identified with modern