The Truth About Internet Censorship

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The Truth about Internet Censorship November 28, 2012 ITT Technical Institute Composition II The explosion in the past several years of what is on the Internet and where it is available has resulted in the creation of massive amounts of human knowledge and activity. The possibility of connecting to the world opens up many wonderful opportunities for improving people's lives, sharing information, and connecting people globally. But the Internet does not contain only relevant and helpful educational information. Like the world itself, it is vast, complex, and often scary. With all of the best and worst of human nature reflected on the Internet, it should not be a surprise to anyone that, with the growth of the Internet, there have been attempts to control how people use it. The kinds of people who try to restrict the Internet use of specific people are as wide-ranging as are their goals. They include parents, schools, commercial companies, operators of Internet Service Providers, and governments at different levels. But some of the methods used to achieve restrictions may be seen as legitimate and necessary while some of these methods are unacceptable acts of censorship and a violation of fundamental human rights. As our Human Rights state: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” (United Nations, 1948) The creators of the Internet generally believed that “there is only one Internet, that it is global, and that it should allow any two computers anywhere in the world to communicate directly with one another.”(Floss Manuals, 2011) Now, in many respects, information has never been so free. There are more ways to spread more ideas to more people than at any moment in history. I
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