Internet Censorship
The Internet is an excellent medium for the free flow of information. Or so it should be. Unfortunately, governments, religious authorities and various other interest groups have noticed that and are determined to put a stop to it. After all, thinking, informed people are much harder to control, and freedom of speech and thought are very dangerous for those who can only keep their positions if enough people believe their version of the truth.
At the highest level, this started in various Communist countries, China being the most notable example. The fact that they implemented such measures shouldn’t surprise anyone. However, the fact that other governments stayed out of it is a little disappointing. But what’s truly troubling is that some major corporations have even cooperated, encouraging this form of censorship so as not to jeopardize their economic interests in that country. Still not surprising, but definitely very worrying.
But one bad apple spoils the bunch. Since this stain was allowed to persist, it started spreading. Soon enough there were other governments which started trying to control the Internet. Of course they started small and first targeted illegal and potentially very dangerous things, so people would be wary of speaking out against the measures, but then it got worse.
Certainly the most notable recent case is that of Australia, which goes even further. We’re talking about a democratic country trying to follow China’s example! I’m not saying they’re the first, there are certainly many other examples, but they are the main story on this topic at this time…
The same story all over again, they say they’re not censoring, they’re just blocking illegal and harmful content. How stupid do you have to be to fall for that? For starters, way too many things are illegal (though some others which aren’t should be). And then you have to keep in mind that we’re talking about information! Actions can be harmful, but not information. Unless we’re talking about certain state secrets during a war or the details of police operations meant to bring down very dangerous criminals, there is no valid reason to restrict the free flow of information. So this is censorship, pure and simple, and censorship is not justice’s response to a harmful action, but a political response to information which makes the authorities afraid of losing their positions.
The information available on the Internet should be completely unrestricted. Those who are bothered by certain things obviously don’t have to watch or read them! Even the information which deals with undeniably harmful actions should be left alone. After all, it’s not the information that causes the harm, but the action. Many people could just be curious about certain things, taking in the information without any intent of carrying out those plans, while some others could use such information to defend themselves from harm. And if some people would carry out those plans then they’re the only ones to blame for their choice, not the information itself or the person who made it available.
We could take a very popular example at the moment, namely child pornography, to illustrate the case. I have never been on such a site myself, at least not on one which matched my definition of “child pornography”, but I can assume that some could even get bold enough to explain some of the methods used to obtain the “actors”, which is information a parent could teach their child in order for them to know what to watch out for and be better equipped to protect themselves. Or the police could certainly use any information available in order to track down those responsible for the operation and capture them. That usually requires the criminals to lower their guard a little, which is something they aren’t going to do if they know they’ve been discovered, which is sure to happen if the site is blocked.
But that brings us to another topic: What exactly is child pornography? Because a completely idiotic definition has been recently used to block Wikipedia content. The decision has been quickly reversed, but the idiotic definition remains.
According to the text, it is “an offence to take, make, permit to be taken, distribute, show, possess with intent to distribute, and advertise indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children under the age of 18. The ‘making’ of such images includes downloading”.
For that to make any sense, you need to first define the term “indecent”. Does it apply to any nude picture of a minor? Do you imagine how many artists are criminals in that case? And honestly, what the fuck happens at the age of 18 that changes everything? One second so many things are illegal, the next that’s no longer the case! Does anybody honestly think that such a delimitation makes any sense? Some people can be trusted to decide for themselves at 13, many others can’t even do it at 30…
But there’s another very interesting bit in that phrase. I’m talking about the “permit to be taken” part. Does that mean that the minor involved is also guilty of child pornography? Because that’s certainly what the text says… Quite interesting, don’t you think?
Back to what’s going on in Australia, the project also mentions blocking information regarding various illegal topics such as anorexia or euthanasia. I’m curious whether it’d also block information about curing anorexia, but what really angers me is the part about euthanasia. We’re talking about something which should be a basic human right, namely the right to die! The fact that in the vast majority of countries this is currently not the case doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be, but such censorship would effectively end the debate. Such a measure effectively says that the current government’s truth is the only truth there is and that they won’t even discuss the issue, regardless of what people might think. This cancels democracy, period!
This is a very dangerous slope. This means that governments are trying to see how far they’d be allowed to go. Start with a few small things which few would dare protest against and then go from there, one step at a time. First they supposedly protect people from those who’d harm them, then they fight against the criminals, they they protect people from themselves, then it gets worse… Much worse… Until they can control everything.
Fortunately, probably just because the Australians have moved too fast and included such outrageous measures in the initial plan, people are acting. But their numbers need to grow exponentially for the protests to be effective, and they also need the support of others from all over the world.
We need to realize that we’re in this together. Bad apples do spoil the bunch, and once even supposedly democratic countries start to go down that path it’ll be extremely difficult to stop the process. There is a Babylon 5 quote for the situation we’d be in if we’d allow this to continue: “The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.” Let’s not let it get that far, shall we? Let’s all fight for a completely free Internet, where any and all information can be shared at will and any and all available information can be accessed at any moment by anyone who desires to do so without fear of retribution. We must make absolutely no compromises when it comes to this, because there will be no turning back once we do.
