Syllabus

• Online censorship of information in a global context 12 ATAR

 Background

Internet censorship is the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. It may be carried out by governments or by private organizations at the behest of government, regulators, or on their own initiative. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship

How is it done?

• Censorship is done by controlling Internet Service Providers.
• It is done by IP Address blocking and/or domain name filtering, to name 2 of the many methods.
• As of 2015, only North Korea and Cuba still have total censorship of the internet. This is changing.
• Other countries have, or are in the process of  creating laws for what censorship to put in place.

Why Censor the Internet?

• There are many categories of information on the internet
• Pornography, gambling sites, chat and many others that have content that can cause great discussion.
• Child pornography is a highly controversial topic.
  • this is an example of the internet allowing crime to continue; by image circulation or 'Chat' for predators to meet young kids
• Even the idea of free speech being used on the internet goes against what some countries see as wrong.
• The idea of censoring or preventing some aspects of the internet is a worthy one to a degree.
• One may argue that it is a right for individuals in a country to have open access to the internet.
• Others may argue that it is right for the country to prevent ideas that go against the government wishes.

 For You To Do

1. Why do countries censor their internet?

2. In your opinion, Is it a good thing that internet censorship happens? Why? or Why not?

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