Information Technology: Internet Censorship - A Comprehensive Report

This report delves into the multifaceted topic of Internet censorship, examining its definition, techniques, and the ongoing debate between proponents of free access and those advocating for control. It explores the historical context, technological aspects, and the impact of censorship on various forms of media. The report meticulously outlines the advantages of censorship, such as limiting criminal activities, enhancing cybersecurity, protecting children, and promoting online safety standards, while also addressing the disadvantages, including limitations on freedom of expression, violation of rights, and challenges in enforcement. It also highlights the economic and societal impacts of censorship, discussing its costs and potential for misuse. Overall, the report provides a balanced and comprehensive overview of the complex issue of Internet censorship, its implications, and the need for critical evaluation of its effects on society.

Running head: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: INTERNET CENSORSHIP
Name of the Student
Name of the University

1INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Executive Summary
People argue over the topic of Internet censorship since some of the people
thinks Internet must be free whereas some other people agrees that because
of the internet there is no more freedom left in the world. As there are
several controversies aroused because of this argument, we assume that
there are both pros and cons related to this topic.

2INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................3
INTERNET CENSORSHIP..........................................................................3
Conclusion............................................................................................14
References...........................................................................................15

3INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
Internet Censorship refers to the system, institutions, practice of
gaining knowledge, communicating and deleting the materials that is said to
be harmful or sensitive to others. The technique of censorship in the record
of the history has been implemented to strengthen the religious and political
aspects (Dixon, Ristenpart and Shrimpton 2016). One of the main obstacles
for the rightful censorship are the technology. There are several pros and
cons of the Internet censorship in the present and future perspective in the
society.
There has been a tug-of-war between the anti-censorship and
censorship people arguing on the aspect of this Internet Censorship. This
report represents the anatomy of the principles, techniques and pros and
cons of the censorship along with its positive and negative effects in the
society.
INTERNET CENSORSHIP
As we have discussed earlier that the Censorship is defined as the
consequences of the information happening that may be harmful for
someone. The situation of maintaining through implementing effectiveness
in censorship policies by facing the rapid changes due to the diversity and
growing of various devices and networks like the Email, web traffics, P2P file-

4INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
sharing, Videos, social networking, VoIP, texting and messaging (Cui et al.
2016).
The interaction of the technological aspects promoting policies and
anti-censorship that has been implemented to enforce censorship is the
major focus. The main objective of the research is to create the awareness of
the consequences of internet censorship and benefits and negative effect of
this, thus suggesting some plans that advances in this technology. Hence,
creating critical thoughts and debate about Internet censorship pros and
cons accordingly (Weinberg et al. 2017).
The preliminary concern of the Internet censorship has two main
principles on the basis of the usability and censorship:
1. Limit the performance degradation;
2. Enforce censors.
Performance degradation mainly concerns with the promotional
usability. Whereas the second principle corresponding to the achieving
restricting objectionable content to certain level of accuracy (Mou, Wu and
Atkin 2016).
While different types of media have been utilized, as a part of the past
to convey and advise people in general of current occasions none are as
impressive to dictator administrations as the Internet. Like for example, the
printing press spreads data by quickening the distribution and scattering of

5INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
books and daily papers, while radio and TV broadcasting encouraged the fast
correspondence of occasions and extended general news scope. The Internet
empowers a significantly more fast age also, spreading of data and thoughts
contrasted with past technologies. The inherent attributes of the Internet
make controlling data on the system is greatly difficult. One reason, which
makes data on the Internet hard to control, contrasted with different types of
media is that national outskirts are more porous on the web: people of a
nation that bans certain data can discover it on sites facilitated outside the
nation (Pan 2017).
Another main reason, which makes online data particularly hard to
control, needs to do with the certain plans and with main aims of the
Internet. The basic purpose was to plan a disseminated framework, which is
secure, more defendable and more purposeful. To take into account
correspondence between various frameworks an arrangement of standard
conventions would should be produced to create trust amongst people for
online services. Thus, the correct attributes, for example, power that make
the Internet a perfect stage for correspondence and dispersal of data
additionally make it extremely hard to control the spreading and accessing
of data by other party. Hence, the mixture of the capacity to quickly produce
and offer new thoughts combined with many other qualities of controlling
data streaming, makes a viral impact which can posture dangers to dictator
administrations if the data contain contents which may affect some
organization of some business or any individual. Therefore, Internet

6INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Censorship, which has been characterized to control the impact of data
breaching or of the distributing or getting to of data on the internet, has
been consistently expanding in a few organizations (Yang 2016). Despite the
fact that editing or omitting the data on the Internet might be more
troublesome as compared to other different types of media, a few systems
have been created and are being used in a few social services.
Since we have discussed that the Internet Censorship is the stop
particular websites or online contents to being displayed over the online
streaming or get data breached. This may happen in many ways like forming
an edit option, regulations, law issued by the government or in the form of
ISP object that one gets offer to view. The main aim is to avoid violence,
obscene and threats by allowing the internet censorship to immediately
block the threat. This helps in avoiding viewing unsatisfying and disturbing
contents to the users especially children. But the corresponding
disadvantage is over an individual’s ability to view the contents that they
wish to see.
There are several other advantages of Internet Censorship in the society:
 Limits the criminal activities: Enrollment for fear based oppressor
gatherings, hacking into individual ledgers, phishing, data fraud, and
online tricks are quite recently a portion of the illicit exercises that
occur on the Internet. Many individuals have fallen casualties to these
violations and in some cases, have no real way to follow and catch the

7INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
culprits. Internet control can help keep these unlawful exercises since
it can boycott pernicious substance and keep a nearby watch on
suspicious action.
 Enhances the cyber security: Internet censorship will help cyber
security od any individual or a group like in a country. Law requirement
offices will have the capacity to keep an unfailing spotlight on
everything that is occurring and will have the capacity to forestall
wrongdoings or stop them at different periods of improvement. Sites
are restricted, computerized interfaces are brought down and criminal
procedures are executed against associations abusing the Internet
however there are still misrepresentation exchanges, character
burglaries and the enormous profound dull Internet. Internet control
may make the virtual world a more secure place.
 Protects children: Children utilize the Internet consistently and
guardians can't comprehend what kind of substance they are getting
to all day, every day. By controlling the Internet, kids will be more
liberated to surf the Internet for their scholastic and amusement needs
while being shielded from obscene, brutal, and other unsafe substance
that can negatively affect them.
 Protecting the Rights of Women and children: Internetcensorship went
for ensuring privileges of women, youngsters and creatures has many
favorable circumstances. Naming and disgracing women, recordings of
children being tormented, brutality against creatures and horde sorts

8INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
of genuine however abhorrent substance are accessible and coursed
online which are obviously unsatisfactory. There are likewise
committed endeavors to insult the notorieties of individuals, most
outstandingly attempting to humiliate women by sharing spilled
photographs and recordings.
 Brings strength to the online security issues: Internet censorship can
block harmful sites allowing only secure and reliable to Internet sites
that can be accessed. This implies you can be more secure when you
share touchy data on the Internet.
 Creates standards for publishing: Indeed, even proficient individuals
from the media trust that there ought to be a farthest point to what
ought to and should not be distributed, particularly if the material
might be unsafe or hostile. Controlling the Internet can avert content
containing bigot, segregating, derisive, and vicious messages from
being spread on the Internet.
 Helps to create the chances to set limits in common sense: There are a
few things that simply of what public would react to the situation. A
basic inquiry now on an unfiltered open hunt can furnish anybody with
access to various recordings that indicate to demonstrate genuine
murders in advance. Prominent cases, for example, the homicides of
Alison Parker and Adam Ward, were communicated on-air and
afterward a first-individual video of the occasion advanced through

9INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
groups of friends a short time later. Confining this substance sets a
presence of mind restrict on the substance that can be seen.
 Identification and lessening of the threats: One of the quickest
developing violations on the planet today is fraud. NBC News reports
that more US residents were casualties of fraud in 2016 than any prior
year. More than 15.4 million reports of wholesale fraud were
assembled by Javelin Strategy and Research, which mirrors a 16%
expansion in the aggregate number of reports from 2015 figures (Parks
and Mukherjee 2017). Limiting substance that would enable
personality data to be effortlessly shared could reduce the effect that
wholesale fraud causes to a public.
 Stops the impact of false news: Fake news expanded drastically in
2017. Counterfeit news sites advance false reports for cash through
snaps since pursuers think the news is genuine. Internet control would
give another level of wisdom which could stop disruptive occurrences
that depend on occasions that never happened.
Along with the advantages, there are various disadvantages as well:
 Freedom of expression has been taken: The right to freedom of
speechis disallowed once there is a restrain in the matter of what you
can or can't state on the Internet. The World WideInternet is the place
individuals can utilize an incredible level of inventiveness to
communicate, however oversight will take that away.

10INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
 Violate Rights: Internet censorship can be affected. Truth might be
avoided general society. It can prompt forms of publicity serving
extraordinary interests. Regardless the legislature can't choose or
whoever the expert is with respect to what individuals need to peruse,
watch or access, if it isn't illegal (Detenber and Rosenthal 2017).
 Limits the access of vital data and information: With such huge
numbers of sites existing, it will be difficult to sort every one as
'destructive' or 'safe’. This implies the useful or the prohibited websites
are different and must be differentiated. However, while differentiation
there cannot be any limitation on accessibility of the data and
information of that site.
 Challenge to enforce: A few nations do not have enough assets to help
their subjects with other essential needs. Additionally, making a
uniform and steady control will take a considerable measure of time.
 Allowance controlling of information for an individual’s benefit: There
will dependably be individuals who will exploit the power they have.
For example, if an administration official knows he can control all
substance on the Internet, he realizes that he can take part in activities
without expecting that the impact could be posted on the Internet
(Hassid and Repnikova 2016).
 Non-acceptance of the society: Regardless of the possibility that
Internet control is straightforwardly managed and morally kept up,
somebody some place is settling on what is satisfactory and what isn't

11INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
worthy for society to see on the Internet. In some cases, people do not
get authority where they can report about their censorship choices.
With that sort of energy, one individual could impact society in the way
they picked without result.
 Costly process: As indicated by consideration from Darrell West, VP
and Director of Governance Studies and the establishing executive of
the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings, Internet shutdowns
cost nations $2.4 billion of every 2015. The choice to cut network in
Egypt included some significant downfalls of $90 million. Blue penciling
content is exorbitant and it will come to the detriment of citizens.
 Provides negative impact in the economy: Internet censorship can also
result bad for the economy of the country. Since the government
needs to spend much more than they need (Clark et al. 2017).
 Lacking truth leading towards ignorance: If a business cannot advance
them on the Internet or offer their products on an internet at business
stage, at that point they are set in some disadvantageous state that
has been contrasted with industry competitors. These competitors
might get the permission already to offer on the Internet.
 Limiting entrepreneurial opportunity: The Internet Censorship aspect
business people would be compelled to have their thoughts affirmed
by an oversight council, board, or individual as opposed to seeking
after the thought instantly without anyone else. If a business in an
indistinguishable industry from the business visionary has enough

12INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
riches or impact, they could possibly confine the business visionary
from seeking after their chance. Such an activity would restrain
advancement in numerous parts (Busch, Theiner and Breindl 2018).
The Internet has without any doubt has been the most helpful
inventions and the most accommodating creations of our opportunity. In any
case, it likewise cannot be denied that many individuals have utilized it for
ruinous purposes and have exploited numerous people every day
(Behrouzian et al. 2016). Therefore, Internet censorship is required.
However, the usage must be finished by utilizing techniques that are
advanced and not unsafe. Internetcensorship is not only a parental or
government tool to use against the threats. There are a few programming
items on the buyer showcase that can point of confinement or piece access
to internet destinations or in short websites. It isgreatly known by the people
that these projects are the Internet channels. Control adversaries have
another name for them: Censorware.
While there are some supporters and adversaries of Internet control
there are people against it as well. Not every person utilizes similar
strategies to finish their objectives over internet (Aceto et al. 2016). Several
social orders have received the rewards from the technological
advancements, that the innovation in internet censorship has frequently
been used to impose to stabilize the internet planning and safety of the
society. The planning advantage displays new advances, which has to be

13INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
regularly met by the organization or may get some unexpected results
(Khattak et al. 2016) . A few adversaries of censorship challenge government
strategies in court. Others play the part of data opportunity warriors, giving
individuals covert approaches to get to data.
Conclusion
The fundamental aspect of this report is to give a review of ‘Online
Censorship’ counting the exchange amongst innovation and arrangement in
the society and setting some key plan factors to hostile and control
advancements. As for the primary goal, a recorded survey of data control
introduces the development of internet censorship and the relating business
applications, exhibiting the control utilized by the world as a social and
political device to keep their internet safe and secure. However, there are
several pros and cons using the internet censorship. People believes that
internet censorship is one the positive method for social problems and
internet environment, while some other people has their opinion that
censorship depends on the suppression of liberty. Internet censorship poses
both advantage and disadvantages but there are main three reasons why
censorship in internet is required that is for ethical, political and economical
reasons of the society. To understand the potential threats it is vital for
Internet Censorship to exist and regulate mainly the unethical and illegal
threats by not invading the privacy and liberty of the common internet user.

14INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
References
Aceto, G., Botta, A., Pescapé, A., Awan, M.F., Ahmad, T. and Qaisar, S., 2016,
September. Analyzing internet censorship in Pakistan. In Research and
Technologies for Society and Industry Leveraging a better tomorrow (RTSI),
2016 IEEE 2nd International Forum on (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Behrouzian, G., Nisbet, E.C., Dal, A. and Çarkoğlu, A., 2016. Resisting
censorship: How citizens navigate closed media environments. International
Journal of Communication, 10, p.23.
Busch, A., Theiner, P. and Breindl, Y., 2018. Internet Censorship in Liberal
Democracies: Learning from Autocracies?. In Managing Democracy in the
Digital Age (pp. 11-28). Springer, Cham.
Clark, J.D., Faris, R.M., Morrison-Westphal, R.J., Noman, H., Tilton, C.B. and
Zittrain, J.L., 2017. The shifting landscape of global internet censorship.
Cui, X., Tsang, Y.H., Hui, L.C., Yiu, S.M. and Luo, B., 2016, January. Defend
against Internet censorship in named data networking. In Advanced
Communication Technology (ICACT), 2016 18th International Conference
on (pp. 300-305). IEEE.
Detenber, B.H. and Rosenthal, S., 2017. Public Support for Censorship in a
Highly Regulated Media Environment: The Influence of Self-Construal and
Third-Person Perception Over Time. International Journal of Public Opinion
Research, p.edw029.

15INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Dixon, L., Ristenpart, T. and Shrimpton, T., 2016. Network Traffic Obfuscation
and Automated Internet Censorship. IEEE Security & Privacy, 14(6), pp.43-
53.
Du, Y.R., 2016. Same events, different stories: Internet censorship in the
Arab Spring seen from China. Journalism & Mass Communication
Quarterly, 93(1), pp.99-117.
Greer, J., 2016. Children and internet pornography: a moral panic, a salvation
for censors and Trojan horse for government colonisation of the digital
frontier. Revisiting Moral Panics, p.137.
Hassid, J. and Repnikova, M., 2016. Why Chinese print journalists embrace
the Internet. Journalism, 17(7), pp.882-898.
Khattak, S., Elahi, T., Simon, L., Swanson, C.M., Murdoch, S.J. and Goldberg,
I., 2016. SOK: Making sense of censorship resistance systems. Proceedings
on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, 2016(4), pp.37-61.
McPherson, R., Houmansadr, A. and Shmatikov, V., 2016. Covertcast: Using
live streaming to evade internet censorship. Proceedings on Privacy
Enhancing Technologies, 2016(3), pp.212-225.
Mou, Y., Wu, K. and Atkin, D., 2016. Understanding the use of circumvention
tools to bypass online censorship. new media & society, 18(5), pp.837-856.

16INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Pan, J., 2017. How Market Dynamics of Domestic and Foreign Social Media
Firms Shape Strategies of Internet Censorship. Problems of Post-
Communism, 64(3-4), pp.167-188.
Parks, L. and Mukherjee, R., 2017. From platform jumping to self-censorship:
internet freedom, social media, and circumvention practices in
Zambia. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, pp.1-17.
Pearce, P., Ensafi, R., Li, F., Feamster, N. and Paxson, V., 2017, May. Augur:
Internet-Wide Detection of Connectivity Disruptions. In Security and Privacy
(SP), 2017 IEEE Symposium on (pp. 427-443). IEEE.
Razaghpanah, A., Li, A., Filastò, A., Nithyanand, R., Ververis, V., Scott, W. and
Gill, P., 2016. Exploring the Design Space of Longitudinal Censorship
Measurement Platforms. arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.01979.
Weinberg, Z., Sharif, M., Szurdi, J. and Christin, N., 2017. Topics of
Controversy: An Empirical Analysis of Web Censorship Lists. Proceedings on
Privacy Enhancing Technologies, 2017(1), pp.42-61.
Yang, F., 2016. Rethinking China’s Internet censorship: The practice of
recoding and the politics of visibility. new media & society, 18(7), pp.1364-
1381.