Is it time for the regulation of the internet?

The discovery of the internet has brought about many benefits as well as disadvantages. The issue of internet regulation has raised debate whether or not the internet should be regulated. Internet regulation has caused a division in the community as some people think that it should be regulated, and others oppose the idea.

The supporters of internet regulation argue that internet has contributed to the growth of terrorism in the community as people watch violent videos online (Griffiths, 2019). For example, terrorists post violet videos and information to radicalize people through online platforms, yet the technology firms do nothing about it. Besides, in the United States where free press is highly valued, and the government has been lenient on the regulation of the internet, and this explains the decline of democracy through fake news and misinformation on social media (Griffiths, 2019). Also, social media has allowed for the fast distribution of pornographic materials that are watched by children, hate speech and scammers. Governments such as Australia, UK, and Singapore are passing bills to regulate the internet.

On the other hand, the advocates of internet claim that internet promotes free speech therefore it builds and strengthens democracy. The activists use the internet as a way of expressing their concerns to the public and the government(Griffiths, 2019). Also, internet has promoted fast communication in the communities breaking physical boundaries. The internet is an essential economic tool that is promoting trade through e-commerce. David Post (2001) argues that the internet should not be regulated because the government wants to control it, but because people want it regulated. Similarly, there are yet to be organizations that represent the wishes of people using the internet, and thus the government does not have the power to regulate internet (Post, 2001).

In summation, even though the internet has many benefits such as communication, freedom of speech, e-commerce, entertainment among others, it has a lot of adverse effects. The internet is impacting the community adversely by promotion of pornography, terrorism, hate crimes, democracy decline, fake news, and scamming. Therefore, I believe that it is time for the internet to be regulated.

References

Post, D. (2001). SHOULD THE INTERNET BE REGULATED? Contra: Why the Internet

Should not be Regulated. In CESifo Forum(Vol. 2, №4, pp. 43–43). München: ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München.

Griffiths, J. (2019). Governments are rushing to regulate the internet. Users could end up paying

the price. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/08/uk/internet-regulation-uk-australia-intl-gbr/index.html