Since the Interent has come about, we have been exposed to many new and different ideas. Who would have ever thought pornography would be one of these new ideas? Pornography has always been around but you had to be 18 years of age to be exposed to it. (unless you secretly had access to it). In today's society there seems to be no age limit, especially on the Interent. Anyone can turn on the computer and sign onto the Interent to look up pornography. It's as simple as typing in www.Yahoo.com,nudepics. Any 10 year old is capable of doing this, which can be dangerous. Some feel this is not wrong and we should continue to have this freedom on the Internet. But others, such as the government feel it is wrong.
The government is typing to pass laws for censorship of pornography. Senator James Exon is one of the founding fathers of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996, Section 502, which regulates "any obscene or indecent material via the Interent to anyone under 18 years of age." This was taken from an issue of Newsweek Magazine (p.53). The government has many reasons for their concern about censorship. They donut want anyone being exposed to these obscene gestures via the Internet. One of the reasons is children. Children are so impressionable, especially at a young age and so the government had taken this into consideration. So, the the government has taken children and made them their main focus in trying to get these laws passed. There are also many other organizations fighting for censorship. Net Nanny is a monitoring device that helps to block indecent messages and pictures. NoThankYou.com is a filtering site used to help us block as well. (p.3). These devices are especially beneficial for parents that cannot always watch their children. They can install these devices to help them out. These are all ways in which the government and our society as well have been fighting to censor pornography on the Internet altogether.
The other side to censorship of pornography on the Internet is obviously not to have censorship. So, there are just as many people working toward noncensorship. Michael Sears, SurfWatcher's general manager, is that there is "no way anyone could block every offensive site". (p.3) Michael Miller wrote an article titled "Cybersex Shock" feels that, "When it comes to our children, censorship is a far less important issue than good parenting. We must teach our children that the Internet is an extension and reflection of the real world, and we have to show them how to enjoy the good things and avoid the bad things. This isn't the government's responsibility. It's ours." (p.76) One thing the government does not realize is that there are no clear boundaries from information being accessed from other countries. We would still be able to access information and the government could not do anything about it. Today's Internet works much like humans' brains. If we are faced with a barrier, than we will find a way to knock it down and find an alternate. So, some would say that censorship is a waste and we don't have a major need for it because it won't be effective anyway. But the government is still fighting for censorship.
Is it right or wrong to censor pornography on the Internet? The more information I read through about this topic, the more I realized that this issue isn't necessarily about being right or wrong. There are so many different viewpoints that it would be very difficult to say who's opinion is right or wrong. But since the government passes the laws, I feel that they have more of a say about censorship on the Internet.
My Citations: Citations