According to Symantec, the fourth most popular search term for children 7 and below is “porn”. Even more shocking is the fact that internet filters are not perfect and cannot completely block porn sites. For children who lack parental supervision, this may mean that they are exposed to sexually explicit images at a very young age. Can this justify the move to censor internet websites and to remove net neutrality?
The issue arises again and again not only because of these harmful contents, but also because of other internet threats like viruses, Trojans, and spywares. An incident of censorship arose last year when AT&T, a US Internet Service Provider, temporarily blocked access to 4chan.org – a website known for its anonymous users and content. This first attempt at internet censorship raised a ruckus among netizens. Despite being known for notorious Internet pranks and child pornography, 4chan received support from a wide base of Internet users who were clearly against internet censorship.
With internet censorship gaining ground in China and Australia, it is only a matter of time that the issue arrives in the Philippines. In the wake of the Hayden Kho scandal, talks of Internet censorship in Congress are being raised. The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2009, which aims to prevent and suppress cybercrimes, may give rise to the use of internet filters for its end goals. If it does so, the Supreme Court would have to determine whether it restricts the people's rights to freedom of expression or it is a legitimate exercise of police power.
2 comments:
11th entry
sa mga bata naman, like with my niece, she has internet time in her laptop however, i always monitor her and she can't hide whatever she was doing - which is usually kiddie games. so, i guess it's upto any parent to monitor their children. parang playboy lang yan sa generation natin.
as to censorship, eventually, there has to be a form of censorship. i was sorely disappointed with the hayden kho scandal video. i mean, people from age 1 to 100 saw that film - if they had the opportunity. while the mtrcb, pag may nakita lang na mahalay na suot sa wowowee, isususpend na. parang misplaced ata ang priority sa censorship and regulation. lalo ngayon, iba na talaga ang media na mas ginagamit ng tao
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