Control of Information on the Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Control of Information on the Internet - Essay Example The opinions held depend mostly with the extent of censorship which varies from one nation to another or one organization to another. It is imperative to note that some countries exercise total internet censorship while others limits the access of information in response to proceedings such as country’s elections, mass demonstrations and riots. Notable events that recently led to internet censorship include the occurrences of the Arab spring in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, authorities in the affected nations restricted access to information on the internet because they perceived as being used by rebels to cause instability. However, their efforts did not succeed due to the porous nature of the cyberspace. In as much as censorship aims at total or partial control of information, this may not be possible in practical because national borders are porous to online information. For instance, restricted information in one country may be hosted by a neighboring nation and accesse d by citizens of the latter. Therefore, censoring aims at working to control access to information in the face of numerous challenges such as lack of legal or physical controls over the information placed on the websites. As a result, censorship requires bringing into play technological means such as blocking of sites or allowing access to a portion of selected website content. Some countries go to the extent of placing strict limits to domestic and overseas information. Sensitive contents such as political topics and related content are highly restricted by those in power. Reporters and media agents who have defied government orders have often found themselves being harassed. The form of harassment ranges from violent treatment to jailing for reporting content which expose top secrets about those in power for example corruption allegations or content that is a threat to security matters for example public stability concerns. It is important to note that the notorious journalists an d those who try to defy censorship orders are in most cases driven out of the country by governments with a view of totally stopping information delivery through websites. It is worth noting that the distinction between the receiver and the publisher of the information posted on the internet is a complex matter because unlike the ancient information delivery methods, information hosted on the internet allows all posting individuals and agencies the right and power to publish without pre censorship activity. Thus the use of internet has contributed to a large extent the freedom of expression and press. Even though most governments have great experience and sophisticated tools to impose censors on the published information, their tools and experience face enormous challenges due to a number of reasons which include among others; Information sources are vast The sources of information that is hosted on the internet are far much beyond reach to most governments. This has made gagging of content almost an impossible venture unlike in the control of domestic information. It is worth noting that whereas governments and authorities would like to control this information, the publishers and senders may be residing in a country that enjoys freedom of expression and press. Thus, the source of the published information is beyond the borders of these governments and therefore not subject to jurisdiction and control.