The advanced technology and increasing usage of the internet among users of all age groups can prove to be problematic as there are various kinds of content available. However, to keep everything safe based on content and privacy, social media platforms maintain some strict parameters to create a healthy community without negativity. Yet there are many users who uses the internet for ill purposes, like - bullying and harassment. Thus, the positive impact of the internet is slowly turning into a curse due to people with wrong intention. That is why 'Internet Censorship' is necessary so as to monitor and regulate the content that is posted or spread over the internet.
What is ‘Internet censorship’?
Censorship is referred to as control or suppression over the content available on the internet - posted, published, or viewed. Putting restriction on the content can happen due to moral, business, religious or legal reasons. The censorship controls what kind of content is going to be featured and which one is getting banned based on its purpose, relevance, and influence. There are many scenarios that happen over the internet but its negative effects prevail in real life. In the worst scenario, a person can even act suicidal due to harassment over the internet.
There are many disturbing elements of the internet that reflects the dark side of society, starting from unpleasing dark humor, discriminatory behavior over comments and even posts including child pornography and sexual harassment. As days are passing by, rising cases of internet harassment can be heard from everywhere. Keeping an eye on that, internet censorship is getting stronger and stricter in many countries across the world.
Cyber-crime
Crimes don't just happen in the physical world but the virtual world as well. ‘Cyber’ is the most common word for anything related to the internet and cybercrime is referred to the crimes that happens online. There are several incidents and bullying that violate human rights and put a negative impact on the healthy human lifestyle.
1. Cyber-Bullying
Bullying is often done by one person or a group of people who take the advantage of internet and technology to harrass other people. Repeatedly using wrong words and actions to put someone in distress is a criminal act that affects the person’s well-being. Recent research shows that teenagers in the age group of 14-17 years are mostly online and fall prey to cyber-bullying. Out of every 10 students, there are will more than one student who suffered from cyberbullying. However, bullying can happen to everyone regardless of gender and age.
How it affects the Human Right?
- Rights to work and fair working conditions
Bullying can trigger absenteeism from the workplace that gradually leads to poor work performance and an unproductive mind.
- Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Bullying can put a deep impact on one person’s mental as well as physical health. It also triggers the negative emotion of self-harm which can lead to physical injury and other health problems. Depression and anxiety can kick in as well.
- Right to freedom of expression and to hold opinions without interference
Bullying affects the sense of freedom as people get bullied over the internet for sharing their personal opinions, art or preferences. It makes the internet an unsafe place to share your thoughts.
- Children’s right to participate
Children have the right to participate in leisure activities and different content over the internet. With the global pandemic breathing on the neck, the internet is the only medium to continue with studies and gaining knowledge. Children that are exposed to violence, racism, and pornography gets affected, which harms their natural growth.
2. Cyber-Racism
Racism is never acceptable whether it happens on the street or through a meme and calling it ‘funny’. There are plenty of Facebook groups and rooms on Instagram where people embrace their racist pleasure. Casual racism and joking on the different races of people became quite popular on the internet with the meme culture. There are many people who enjoy an indigenous post with racist captions. Even though some serious steps should be taken against these pages and the content creators; Facebook has categorized them under ‘controversial humor’.
3. Sexual harassment and casual sexism
This is one of the most widely spread cases that happens with almost everyone, especially women and children. Research says, 17% of women and 4% of children get inappropriate messages on a daily basis. Not only text messages but there are unsolicited image and video attachments of genitalia which make the inbox gross. Such behavior without consent is no less than crime. There is a term called ‘Creep-shot’ which is referred to men taking explicit pictures of women and posting them on public websites. The photos can include pictures of young girls as well. There are many pages and people on social media platforms who openly slut-shame women of all age groups. The Internet has literally become of the most unsafe places when it comes to privacy.
4. Cyber – Homophobia
Homophobic cyberbullying has increased drastically in recent years as the LGBTQAI+ community has expanded over the years. Where social networking sites are widely used to educate people about different sexuality and sexual orientations, there are always some people putting negative influence on the agenda. Their homophobic behavior bursts out through the explicit comments and rage seen over the post. They are not just ignorant about the fact but also actively demean the community. Coming out with your sexual orientation is not an easy task and bullying homosexual and bisexual people can eventually lead to self-harm, depression, and suicide. There are also some incidents of voyeurism where people tried to record homosexual couples having an intimate time. Yes! The dark side of people’s minds is as gross it sounds. There are some ‘audit tools’ and software that are being used to identify the homophobic language used to bully others.
Just like highlighted issues, there are many sensitive topics where the internet is being manipulated for discrimination and harassment. That is why internet censorship is very much important in every country across the world. It helps to keep the internet a safe place for everyone. However, there are some ill effects as well.
- Since censorship involves a country’s superior authority it can misuse it to put restrictions on the vocal rebels and propagandas against the government. It hampers the freedom of speech of the youth and artists who has the potential to raise their voice.
- Censorship maintains certain parameters of profanity that can be imposed on anything from the internet to television, web series, and the film industry. There are many films that consider different perspectives and some of them can be explicit too. However, that doesn’t mean it is a bad movie and needs to ban as soon as possible.
Internet censorship is crucial for every country but it should be monitored with a broader perspective without any rigid rules. Only then the internet can be termed as a safe place to express yourself.
