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  • Essay / Assessing the Practicality of Internet Censorship

    In the age of technology, everyone uses the Internet. From individuals with different backgrounds and interests to businesses and their daily needs. Censorship occurs when what can be viewed, posted, or accessed on the Internet by the public is removed or controlled by regulators. Contrary to popular belief, these regulators have our best interests at heart and regulating what we see is just one of many strategies used to protect us and improve lives. I seek to explore the practicality of internet censorship in particular and how it seeks to help society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay There are many methods that can be used to censor the Internet. Content filtering, which prohibits individuals from accessing specified websites and other resources in a certain geographic location. Next comes keyword filtering, which prohibits the use of certain phrases in online content. Next is web search filtering, where search engines filter information to make it more difficult for users to find certain content, or content stripping, which removes content that has already appeared online. While keyword blocking prevents the generation of other types of information, content blocking, search filtering, and content removal prevent existing information from circulating. Internationally, censorship of social media sites, streaming sites, newsgroups, and Internet telephone services (e.g. Skype) also occurs. For example, in China; blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other sites are blocked by denial of service. Other countries, such as Australia; block websites aimed at gamers and those that sell games to children under fifteen. In Libya; Under Gaddafi's regime, the Aljazeera news television channel was blocked. Censorship is used in the workplace. In some companies, employees are given limited access to social media sites and certain websites using the techniques above. In the public sector, extremists would say that Internet censorship misleads citizens and that the population must become aware of what is being done before their eyes. They say censorship allows “those at the top” to create a false narrative in a society that “those at the bottom” would call the truth. They argue that this reduces the overall intelligence of the general public and is a serious violation of free speech. They also claim and complain that censorship costs governments millions just to put into practice. Internet censorship protects society. Governments that seek to impose censorship do so in the name of protecting public morals against pornography and gambling, or even fighting terrorism. The web can be a very dark place if left unregulated. Other reasons include national security, social stability and combating “cyber anarchy” or crime prevention. The reasons given by the South African government for imposing internet censorship are: the protection of children, national security and the protection of intellectual property. The private sector also uses Internet censorship. In some cases, social media companies work with the government to filter and regulate online content. Censorship protects children from unhealthy content and also stops the flow of fake..