Professional Computing Practice: Internet Censorship Essay

This essay, written for a Professional Computing Practice course, delves into the multifaceted issue of internet censorship. It begins by outlining the widespread use of the internet and the varying levels of access and restriction across different countries. The essay then explores the concept of internet censorship, often implemented by governments, and the ongoing debate regarding its morality and legality, particularly in relation to freedom of speech and access to information. The discussion section examines arguments for and against censorship, considering the potential benefits of restricting illegal activities and the drawbacks of limiting access to information. It also includes examples of censorship in different countries and the justifications provided. The essay also refutes some of the arguments. A critical thinking analysis of the arguments presented. The essay concludes by summarizing the key points and offering a balanced perspective on the complex issue of internet censorship.

Running head: INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
Internet Censorship and Practices
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
Table of Contents
Introduction: 2
Discussion: 3
Refutation: 7
Conclusion: 8
Critical Thinking analysis: 8
Reference: 12

2INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
Introduction:
It has been recorded that internet has been accessed by the users or the people for
various kinds of reasons over the years. The internet is used a medium to communicate with
different people or friends and families, for educational purposes and also job related
purposes. The internet has transformed as the main source or the main medium of gaining any
kind of information that is required by the user (Dillman et al. 2014). The internet access has
developed to such an extent that people are using the internet for the purpose of marketing
and buying goods online and also gets access to online banking services.
It has been observed that the use of internet or getting visibility to internet based
contents is not the same over all parts of the world. The access and the restriction over
internet based contents have been restricted by different kind of laws that are applied by the
juridical bodies of the respective country (Aceto and Pescapé 2015). The Internet censorship
program provides restriction to the visibility on certain type of contents in the internet that
varies according to the laws of the country. The control over the internet censorship is based
on the government bodies. They monitor the activities of an individual over the internet. They
are responsible for blocking and restricting the access to contents wit5h purpose of defending
the nation from accessing the content.
Perspectives are split of whether censoring access to the content over most of the
Internet is moral or legal. Defenders pose valid reasons for the need for censorship in some
situations, while reviewers give reasonable arguments toward censorship (Murdoch and
Roberts 2013). There has always been a conflict over whether internet censorship is moral
and legal activity to do within the community.
The introduction of the internet censorship that is generally introduced by the
government argues on the basic rights of the human that may violate the freedom to

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speech and freedom to press rights as it restricts the usage on various contents to the
users.
Discussion:
The development of internet, which raises new threats and challenges but the
introduction of the government censorship over internet contradicts to basic human rights and
primarily violates the freedom of press right because censorship will limit the access of the
public to information, while the public should have the right to know everything to prevent
the misuse of power by the government and other actions of the government that may be
harmful for public interests.
The Right of Free expression also includes the right of free to speech which is not
thoroughly available in the countries whose governments has the power to censor the internet
contents. This has happened as the people or the user of the internet considers the right to free
speech and expression as a granted part of their usage on the internet (Lipschultz 2018). The
users do not maintain the required discipline that needs to be attained for the betterment of
the country. The contents consist of viable things that may harm the society of the country.
The right to free expression is often misused by the users. Internet censorship is not restricted
to Communist countries and dictatorships, and even nations such as Australia, France and
Russia have already been placed on their watch list by Reporters without Borders (Travis
2013). The internet censorship in many countries are implied only to restrict the illegal
activities that are carried out by the help of internet. The activities like the promotion of the
child pornography and anti national websites which may harm the national security are
blocked and censored by the government.

4INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
In countries like China, Vietnam the citizens of those countries have very limited
access to the internet based information transferring and also to freedom of expression and
speech. The governmental bodies of these nations are responsible for the implication of the
rules and regulations that forms the internet censorship (Fourie, Bothma and Bitso 2013). The
governmental bodies are expected to monitor the activities with the help of their cyber cells.
They block and get access to various types of the information before that reaches to the
common people of the country. The steps are taken so as to defend the country from getting
involved into anti national matters and illegal matters with ideologies that are not required
(Ford 2014). The countries that are basically located in the western part of the world use the
censorship for prohibiting the illegal activities which are generally used to result criminal
activities.
Censorship for Religion or monitoring criminal activities states that the there are
many countries in the world that uses the facility of banning or prohibiting the access of the
internet based contents on the topic of religion campaigning or exploitation in the public
through the help of religion (Clark et al. 2017). The internet is widely used for spreading
religious ideologies and spreading hatred for other religions making a clash within the
community. The western countries use the censorship for banning the illegal spread over the
internet. Whereas, the communist countries like the North Korea, China, Cuba and Vietnam
uses the censorship for religion purposes (Chomhaill et al. 2015).
The ethical standard of the Censorship depends on the content and why the
content has been censored. The reason that has been stated by the Chinese government
about the censorship of the internet based information or social media is to develop harmony
within the societies of the country as the population of the country has been rising day by day
(Barratt, Lenton and Allen 2013). The censorship has been introduced so as to avoid the clash

5INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
that arises due to the difference in the ideologies, which creates conflict against the system
and disturbs the balance that has been created by the government.
The Internet censorship reduces the crime rate. There are many incidents reported
in the countries, especially those who have brought the censorship on internet that the amount
of the crime has been increasing in the field of internet usage. The rate of widespread
communal violence and religion based issues has increased in a large scale. The internet has
been used as medium of transferring illegal documents and sharing of violent videos and
images which creates disturbance within the community (Tschantz, Afroz and Paxson 2016).
It has been very easy to motivate people in illegal form of works through internet which does
not even require being physically present within a group. The transfer of fraudulent and
religious posts can be done easily on the internet. The addition of the censorship helps to
produce a resistance to the Contents which contain violence and child pornography and
religious exploitations and produces a negative impact on the rate of the crime that depends
on the internet.
However, it cannot be concluded with any particular evidence to highlight any kind of
relationship that prevails between the rate of the crime and the internet censorship (Wachs,
Schanzenbach and Grothoff 2013). The Internet has created it simpler for people to access
any data they want, and therefore Internet Censorship is implemented to filter content that is
considered negative or is against the stability or harmony of the society.
The Censorship that has been implied in the network of the internet is able to
limit and restrict the corruption in the internet. It has created a huge impact on the
internet facility against the corruption and illegal issues that had been carried out by some
group of people. The most common type of censorship that had been implied on the internet
sources by a government are the use of filters to breakdown the access to internet for the

6INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
citizens in a particular domain of websites. In a recent example which can be stated to
describe evidence to the report on internet censorship, the case of turkey internet ban can be
considered. In July, 2016, there has been an attempt of coup in the turkey (Warf 2013). The
Turkish Government has banned or censored the popular social media and entertainment
based internet websites like the Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube so as to provide the
obstruction to limit the flow of information and spread of information that could have lead to
breakdown of peace in the country (Akgul and Kirlidog 2015). The access to these internet
websites were made available later to the citizens of their country when the situations were
controlled and mitigated the problem. From this evidence, it can be stated that the use of
internet for a certain period of time can be censored by the government where the main
objective of the government remains to secure the peace and harmony of the country (Di
Florio et al. 2014). The people of the country might get attached to certain terrorist or illegal
organization through the posts and shares on the social media that works as an influence. It
can also be attained from this report that the excessive use of the uncensored internet which is
generally the monitoring-less internet system makes it suitable for the people to leak the
information that needs to be covered up by the government.
For adding more examples we can define the situation of the china government
which has restricted the visibility to some of the currently used popular websites that
are not developed by them. The Chinese government has repeatedly reported that there has
been breaches and corruption in the government due to the excessive use of the foreign social
media websites. This has led them with the introduction of the great Firewall of China which
is a combination of the legislative laws on the technology that is implied on the people of
china (Ensafi et al. 2015). The repeated reports on the corruption have been decreased by
censoring and allowing the people to use their own domestic websites which also creates a

7INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
scope for employment in those domain companies in the country. The internet censorship
always left a positive impact on the people of china.
Refutation:
In this report, the internet censorship and the application of the censorship is defined
with prominent evidences. There are more cases of censorship on internet which can be
argued and proved to be false. The censorship that has been enforced in the Australia by the
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) censors and also bans the
contents and the websites that are delivered by the foreign websites that are not fit to be used
by the people of country. The people of the Australia find this regulation as unnecessary and
obstruction of the rights of free speech and share of internet based contents. This is often
counted as the violation of the human rights. The report helps to evaluate the reality for the
internet censorship. The restriction is originally due to the use of Child pornography, Sexual
violence, Security risks for the government and abusive contents. These limitations are
enforced on people of the country with a perspective to controlling the unethical behaviour on
the internet and also increasing the safety of the user along with the safety of the country.
In the case of the great firewall of china which is the internet censorship of the
internet based contents and website applied by the government of China is considered to be
an obvious violation of the human rights including the freedom of speech and sharing
opinion. But it can be argued that the internet censorship has not been able to be proven as
the disadvantage to the people, rather it has advantages and benefits for the people like it
creates Produces a stronger atmosphere for kids, blocking offensive material that they could
encounter by accident. It improves confidentiality by censoring the internet such as Facebook
or twitter that request private details. This information can be found by hackers breaking into
people’s account. Government surveillance obstructs racist and pornographic internet sites

8INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
that are objectionable quality. It monitors individuals who illicitly dispersed this stuff over
such a limitless medium as the Internet and incarcerates them.
Conclusion:
In this report it can be concluded that the internet has been accessed by users or
individuals for multiple purposes over the years. It has already been noted that using the web
or gaining exposure to information based on the internet is not the same across all areas of the
globe. Access to and limitation of internet-based content has been limited by distinct kinds of
legislation implemented by the legal bodies of the respective nation. The Internet censorship
system restricts the visibility of certain types of content on the internet that differs according
to the country's legislation. Perspectives are divided as to whether censoring access to content
over most of the Internet is moral or legal. But it can be also concluded from the arguments
that there correct and valid reasons for the censorship on the internet. Though it may
contradict with the legislative, measures, the key aim of the censorship systems is to maintain
the security and peace within the people of the country.
Critical Thinking analysis:
Argument The Censorship that has been implied in the network of the internet
is able to limit and restrict the corruption in the internet.
It has created a huge impact on the internet facility against the
corruption and illegal issues that had been carried out by some group
of people. The most common type of censorship that had been
implied on the internet sources by a government are the use of filters
to breakdown the access to internet for the citizens in a particular
domain of websites. In a recent example which can be stated to

9INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
describe evidence to the report on internet censorship, the case of
turkey internet ban can be considered. In July, 2016, there has been
an attempt of coup in the turkey (Warf 2013). The Turkish
Government has banned or censored the popular social media and
entertainment based internet websites like the Facebook, WhatsApp,
Twitter, YouTube so as to provide the obstruction to limit the flow of
information and spread of information that could have lead to
breakdown of peace in the country (Akgul and Kirlidog 2015). The
access to these internet websites were made available later to the
citizens of their country when the situations were controlled and
mitigated the problem. From this evidence, it can be stated that the
use of internet for a certain period of time can be censored by the
government where the main objective of the government remains to
secure the peace and harmony of the country (Di Florio et al. 2014).
The people of the country might get attached to certain terrorist or
illegal organization through the posts and shares on the social media
that works as an influence. It can also be attained from this report
that the excessive use of the uncensored internet which is generally
the monitoring-less internet system makes it suitable for the people
to leak the information that needs to be covered up by the
government.
Topic Sentence The Censorship that has been implied in the network of the internet
is able to limit and restrict the corruption in the internet
Premise We can define the situation of the china government which has
restricted the visibility to some of the currently used popular

10INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
websites that are not developed by them. The Chinese government
has repeatedly reported that there has been breaches and corruption
in the government due to the excessive use of the foreign social
media websites. This has led them with the introduction of the great
Firewall of China which is a combination of the legislative laws on
the technology that is implied on the people of china (Ensafi et al.
2015). The repeated reports on the corruption have been decreased
by censoring and allowing the people to use their own domestic
websites which also creates a scope for employment in those domain
companies in the country. The internet censorship always left a
positive impact on the people of china.
Conclusion it can be concluded that the internet has been accessed by users or
individuals for multiple purposes over the years. It has already been
noted that using the web or gaining exposure to information based on
the internet is not the same across all areas of the globe. Access to
and limitation of internet-based content has been limited by distinct
kinds of legislation implemented by the legal bodies of the respective
nation. The Internet censorship system restricts the visibility of
certain types of content on the internet that differs according to the
country's legislation. Perspectives are divided as to whether
censoring access to content over most of the Internet is moral or
legal. But it can be also concluded from the arguments that there
correct and valid reasons for the censorship on the internet. Though it
may contradict with the legislative, measures, the key aim of the
censorship systems is to maintain the security and peace within the
people of the country.
Sound Argument? Yes

11INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
Why? The argument is defined as a sound argument, as well the above
ment5ioned instances and the premises are valid and true with
original instances with their references. The conclusion has also
followed the premises.
Inductive Argument? No
Why? The inductive argument states that the argument is not sound or the
instances are imaginary. In this case the internet censorship has been
discussed with valid and real case studies and examples, hence
proving, the report in not inductive in nature.

12INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
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Networks, 83, pp.381-421.
Akgul, M. and Kirlidog, M., 2015. Internet censorship in Turkey. Internet Policy
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Barratt, M.J., Lenton, S. and Allen, M., 2013. Internet content regulation, public drug
websites and the growth in hidden Internet services. Drugs: education, prevention and
policy, 20(3), pp.195-202.
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Ensafi, R., Winter, P., Mueen, A. and Crandall, J.R., 2015. Analyzing the Great Firewall of
China over space and time. Proceedings on privacy enhancing technologies, 2015(1), pp.61-
76.

13INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND PRACTICES
Ford, P., 2014. Freedom of expression through technological networks: Accessing the
Internet as a fundamental human right. Wis. Int'l LJ, 32, p.142.
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Routledge.
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