Free Speech in the digital ageAUTHORS:
By: Anthony Parabicoli, Marylou DeGrazia, and Jared Carvalho-Cambra |
"Desktop Computer, Pc" by axelle b is licensed CC0 1.0 Universal |
With the development and proliferation of information technology, a vast new venue has been opened for the exchange of ideas and freedom of expression. With the nigh-endless reaches of the Internet containing all manners of things, the advent of smartphones bringing access to the wireless world virtually anywhere and anytime, and social media creating tightly interwoven communities online, it has become trivially simple to express yourself to the world. But as with every new venue and every advance, information technology brings with it a host of problems and many case-by-case ethical concerns. This is the first ethical issue, The Online World.
The same technology that empowers us to express ourselves can also be used to restrict, suppress, sanction and censor. This regulation can be legitimate or otherwise, but also can be done in such an unobtrusive manner as to go unnoticed, at least for a time; this is the second of our ethical issue, Regulation and Censorship. Finally, with the sheer, mind boggling amount of information available to us in the online world, it can be difficult to determine fact versus fiction; whether something is an opinion or a fact, a repeated rumor or an outright, malicious piece of defamation. This is the final ethical issue, Fact or Fiction; the truth can be hard to find, and this is no less true in the wireless world.
The same technology that empowers us to express ourselves can also be used to restrict, suppress, sanction and censor. This regulation can be legitimate or otherwise, but also can be done in such an unobtrusive manner as to go unnoticed, at least for a time; this is the second of our ethical issue, Regulation and Censorship. Finally, with the sheer, mind boggling amount of information available to us in the online world, it can be difficult to determine fact versus fiction; whether something is an opinion or a fact, a repeated rumor or an outright, malicious piece of defamation. This is the final ethical issue, Fact or Fiction; the truth can be hard to find, and this is no less true in the wireless world.
<a>
Such a power method of communicating allows the connection of millions of people. Enables individuals to share opinions, beliefs, and personal experiences.
|
<a>
We may think we are able to say whatever we want, but that's not always the case. Companies and governments sometimes watch what goes on in the Internet to protect what they stand for.
|
Introducing how and why false information on the internet affects others. Demonstrates how freedom of speech can be abused by inappropriate users.
|