Internet Censorship: Regulations, Effects and Social Implications

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of internet censorship, examining its positive and negative effects on society. It discusses how internet censorship can protect society by regulating harmful content, safeguarding privacy, and ensuring national security. However, it also acknowledges the negative impacts, such as the restriction of freedom of speech, violation of human rights, and potential for government abuse of power. The report further explores the economic costs associated with censorship, including the expense of implementing filters and the potential slowdown of internet speeds. The report concludes by highlighting the complex and multifaceted nature of internet censorship, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that protects both individual rights and societal well-being. Desklib provides access to this report and other study resources for students.

Running head: INTERNET CENSORSHIP
INTERNET CENSORSHIP
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Introduction
This document aims to discuss the aspects of the internet censorship and the change in
internet censorship in the last 5 years. A detailed discussion of the positive and the negative
aspects of internet censorship is provided in this document. A brief discussion of how internet
censorship affects the society is stated in this document. Lastly, this report concludes with an
appropriate conclusion of this document.
The control that is placed for accessing, publishing, or viewing the things on the
internet endorsed by regulators or any other initiative is referred as internet censorship.
Several individuals or organisations can engage in censorship that is defined by them for the
reasons that are majorly business, religion, or moral for conforming to the norms of the
society due to intimidation or any other legal consequences (Aryan, Aryan and Halderman
2013). The extent of the censorship of internet varies based on the norms and laws of
countries.
Discussion
The censorship of internet is commonly referred as the ability of restricting particular
websites or any content that is available online from being accessed. The restriction comes in
the form of regulation, edit, or any law that is issued by respective government (Feng and
Guo 2013).
Positive effects of internet censorship on the society
The measures of protection can be implemented using the censorship of internet. As internet
is considered to be comprehensive and open, the authenticity and the quality of the
information that is available on the internet is relatively questionable (Fourie, Bothma and
Bitso 2013). The internet contains a lot of undue materials, which can be violence or

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pornography, which will definitely exert a influence negatively on the society especially the
children psychologically and physically. Even though several laws have been implemented
for the regulation of the information that can be illegal and the activities that are illegal, the
laws are insufficient for the regulation of information that is illegal or the activities that are
immoral. The chances of charge a person with any kind of internet crimes is significantly
low, as the person is considered to be accessing any foreign website. Therefore, the illegal
activities and the information that is undue are still prevailing on the internet (Mina 2014).
Therefore, the censorship of internet is essential for the regulation of internet. The internet
censorship can purify the information on the internet and the protection to society can be
provided with the implemented regulations.
The filtering of information can be done using internet censorship and it can also provide
protection to the children from disturbing websites like sexual violence, child pornography
and the instructions that provide detailed information about a crime or any kind of drug abuse
(Aceto and Pescapé 2015). The internet censorship can also provide protection to women. For
obtaining increased rate of click and other benefits, several adult websites promote vicious
sexual misuse of women. With the help of the internet censorship, the website promoting
these activities can be blocked and therefore decrease the sexual abuse of women on the
internet (Akgul and Kirlidog 2015).
With the implementation of internet censorship, the guarding of people from several kinds of
troubling email spams. For several citizens of internet, the issue of junk email is becoming
troublesome. Some of the junk emails contains malware and if the malware is activated
during the mail opening, the threat of data theft rises (Burnett and Feamster 2013). Some of
the junk emails can contain schemes of phishing that can be used for stealing the identity of
the citizens of net and it can also threaten the economic safety and privacy. Some of the junk
emails can contain deceitful schemes or any material that is offensive to certain individual.

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Along with this, there are several unsolicited advertisements. The junk emails can be blocked
by the spam filters for the users of internet (Yang and Liu 2014).
The internet censorship can help in the protection of the privacy of the people. The life
privacy of the citizens of Australia has been threatened by the inappropriate information.
When the complaining of the illegal procurement of the personal information with the use of
WiFi systems by Google has been reported, the Federal Police of Australia has involved in
the investigation (Yang 2016). There are some users of internet or website users that can use
the internet in a malicious way for breaching the privacy of people by accessing some private
videos or private photos. The censorship on the internet can prevent the illegal access of
private files and therefore protect the privacy of people.
The economic interest of people can be protected with the implementation of internet
censorship. The economic interest of people can be threatened with the use of information on
the internet (Khattak et al. 2014). The frequency of the frauds of banking are increasing at a
threatening rate. The fraudulent information on the internet can be filtered at a significant rate
by the censorship of internet and it will enhance the supervision and the control of internet
banking. Due to internet censorship, numerous financial frauds, phishing, theft of identity,
theft of credit cards and several other illegal activities can be prevented. Hence, the loss of
economy of the internet users can be decreased or avoided (Murdoch and Roberts 2013).
The internet censorship can assist in the protection of the social stability and provide safety
nation-wide. As large number of illegal activities and the crimes on internet can be reduced
by the censorship of internet, long-lasting stability is provided to the society (Aceto et al.
2015). Black information can be released by several illegal organisations that can disrupt the
national economy and the policy of the nation. False information can be released by the
terrorists and the extremists for creating a distortion of facts and creating a confusion in the

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minds of people for creating fear and panic through the internet. The national security of the
nation can be sabotaged with the release of this kind of information and there is a requirement
of deleting or filtering for avoiding the misunderstanding of the public (Nabi 2013).
The internet censorship can help in reducing the violence on internet and the personal
security of the people can be ensured. The bullying on internet and violence on internet is a
serious issue all over the world. The issue of internet bullying is the main reason of several
suicide cases all over the world. The users of internet are anonymous and the rate of the
spread of information on internet is significantly higher. Several users use the internet to
execute violence in a society. The users can insult, abuse other people and expose the privacy
of other users that will cause severe harm to the victims. Several respected people are the
victims of violence people that leads to the cases of suicide. Several websites utilise the
internet illegally that produces baneful influence, which threatens the life security of people.
The murdering and deceiving other people is conducted with the utilisation of several
websites illegally.
Negative effects of internet censorship on the society
The major reason against the internet censorship is the seize of freedom of speech and that it
also violates the human rights. The internet can prove to be an important communicative tool
that offers a platform for communication among the people all over the world. This platform
provides an opportunity for making free speech. People can express their views and the
position regardless of the acceptance of the society. Moreover, after the introduction of
internet censorship, with the filtering and even deleting of the free speech of people can be
done. This measure acts as an obstacle for the free spreading of information (Di Florio et al.
2014). The right of free speech, the communication rights of the people, and the right of

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knowing are violated with the implementation of the censorship of internet. The spirit of the
democracy is breached with the implementation of the internet censorship. The websites that
display specific thought and view withstands an adverse effect due to internet censorship. The
development of internet is delayed with the censorship (Xu and Feng 2015).
People can get anxious about the violation of the censorship right and violation of the
democracy of society by the government. The government controls the censorship of
internet. The right to censorship can be abused by the government for excluding the
information and the speeches that are opposed to the authority (McPherson, Houmansadr and
Shmatikov 2016). The right of censorship can be manipulated by the government for hiding
information that are disadvantageous to the policies of the government. The government that
controls the right of censorship can silence individuals who doubt the policies of the
government. The political party that is presently ruling the country can use the censorship of
internet for restricting the power of the opposition parties of undermining the capabilities of
the ruling party. The public is deprived of the right to know and the government is controlling
the government. Subsequently, the risk to the democracy of a nation increases without the
public supervision that will lead to serious influence that is negative for the complete nation
(Pan 2017). There is a tendency of boycotting the viewing of illicit websites by the society
such as child pornography and other websites with explicit content. It has been observed that
in several countries there is a tendency of using the censorship of internet exclusively for
political reasons. Several issues rises daily in a society and the internet censorship that is
controlled by the government can restrict the spreading of these issues to maintain favourable
environment in the country.
The internet censorship can have some negative effect on the society judicature. In several
countries, numerous individuals are alleged of disturbing the society for overthrowing the
government and these people are arrested as it observed that they have the tendency of

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publishing and spreading information and articles for opposing and criticizing the
government (Du 2016). Moreover, the criteria of conviction of these accusation is quite
vague. The interpretation by the judicial bodies are inadequate. The space for the determining
of this issue is significantly higher for the government. Therefore, several lawyers and
scholars submits joint letter for the limitation and abolishing of these accusations. Further,
several lawyers and scholars request the interpretation that is judicial of the accusation (Wang
and Mark 2015). The censorship of internet can challenge the judicial authority and lead to
the damage of the laws authority.
The economic cost of the society increases with the censorship of internet. Foremost, the
expansion of work filter can be expensive. Furthermore, a filter that is broad scale that is
proposed by the government can also increase the costs that are related, like the data of the
center staff that is needed to be dealt with due to the increase in the complaints by the
customers as the people cannot access the websites. Secondly, the speed of the NBN
(National Broadband Network) can be ruined due to the filter on the internet. The results of
several researches across the world reveal that the speed of the internet can fall down up to
20% or higher due to the censorship of internet. As the reduction of the speed of internet is
caused, it will lead to the increase in the time that is spent on conducting business and the
decrease in the productivity in the country. The impact on the businesses will be significantly
higher when the slowdown of filtering happens, such as downloading files. Hence, the
efficiency of the business is affected with the filtering on internet and it can lead to the waste
of time and money. Additionally, when there is traffic on the internet, several filtering units
and numerous mechanisms are required for the alteration of the busy to tiny parts (Al-Saqaf
2016).
The internet censorship affects the study, work, and communication of the citizens of net
negatively. The researches of students, teachers, and scholars are influenced by the filtering

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of keywords. The access to online content is controlled by a software that is internet filter.
The methods of filtering is known as black list or white list. The inappropriate content is
prevented with the black list, white list and the system of keyword. The blocking of the
websites and the material that are blocked by the authority are done by the black list. The
access to content on the internet, except the items that are approved by the filters are done by
the reverse of black list, which is the white list. The system of keyword that checks the
entered keywords, limits the sensitive words. With the help of this method, several important
information and the keywords that are normal can be filtered. Due to the censorship of
internet, people will lose the ability of expressing their views freely and obtain higher
information as it is required. The discouragement of the creativity happens due to internet
censorship, which effects negatively to the technological, political and cultural innovation of
the society.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of internet censorship can have
several advantages and disadvantages on the society. The control that is placed for accessing,
publishing, or viewing the things on the internet endorsed by regulators or any other initiative
is referred as internet censorship. The censorship of internet is commonly referred as the
ability of restricting particular websites or any content that is available online from being
accessed. The measures of protection can be implemented using the censorship of internet.
As internet is considered to be comprehensive and open, the authenticity and the quality of
the information that is available on the internet is relatively questionable. The filtering of
information can be done using internet censorship and it can also provide protection to the
children from disturbing websites like sexual violence, child pornography and the instructions
that provide detailed information about a crime or any kind of drug abuse. The major reason
against the internet censorship is the seize of freedom of speech and that it also violates the

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human rights. The internet can prove to be an important communicative tool that offers a
platform for communication among the people all over the world.

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