Internet Censorship: Pros and Cons
Subject: Internet Censorship
The Internet has become a constantly growing source of information and entertainment over the past years. Anyone can express themselves through blogs, websites etc. Internet censorship aims to control and regulate the flow of information and the contents spreading on the Internet. Some people say yes to it, others say no. In this essay we are going to see the pros and cons of Internet censorship.
On one hand, Internet censorship is necessary to prevent children from seeing violent or sexual content, such as pornographic advertisement or images, horror movies or hate literature, and therefore protect them from being manipulated and traumatized. It also protects them from paedophilia by censuring dating websites, for example. More generally speaking, censorship is useful to protect citizens from false or harmful information, which could influence their judgment, for instance wrong political propaganda leading to social disruption. Censorship can also be considered necessary to preserve national security like maintaining the secrecy of information. In that way, a state’s military or security data is protected from its enemies and cannot be used against it. On a religious level, censorship allows to avoid conflicts provoked by insulting and offensive material, as press articles, drawings or videos. On an intellectual level, censorship helps to protect intellectual property and prevent plagiarism. Another important issue is the free circulation of racist contents that can trigger a lot of angry reactions and bad behaviours. And that is why censorship can be a plus. Despite of all those good reasons, Internet censorship is a dangerous tool.
Indeed, on the other hand, Internet censorship can be a huge source of abuse; examples can be taken from China or North Korea. It is well known that dictators use it to promote a flattering image of themselves and also to remove any information that puts them in a negative light or that
The Internet has become a constantly growing source of information and entertainment over the past years. Anyone can express themselves through blogs, websites etc. Internet censorship aims to control and regulate the flow of information and the contents spreading on the Internet. Some people say yes to it, others say no. In this essay we are going to see the pros and cons of Internet censorship.
On one hand, Internet censorship is necessary to prevent children from seeing violent or sexual content, such as pornographic advertisement or images, horror movies or hate literature, and therefore protect them from being manipulated and traumatized. It also protects them from paedophilia by censuring dating websites, for example. More generally speaking, censorship is useful to protect citizens from false or harmful information, which could influence their judgment, for instance wrong political propaganda leading to social disruption. Censorship can also be considered necessary to preserve national security like maintaining the secrecy of information. In that way, a state’s military or security data is protected from its enemies and cannot be used against it. On a religious level, censorship allows to avoid conflicts provoked by insulting and offensive material, as press articles, drawings or videos. On an intellectual level, censorship helps to protect intellectual property and prevent plagiarism. Another important issue is the free circulation of racist contents that can trigger a lot of angry reactions and bad behaviours. And that is why censorship can be a plus. Despite of all those good reasons, Internet censorship is a dangerous tool.
Indeed, on the other hand, Internet censorship can be a huge source of abuse; examples can be taken from China or North Korea. It is well known that dictators use it to promote a flattering image of themselves and also to remove any information that puts them in a negative light or that