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This paper
examines the current state of play with regards to censorship on
the Net. Read it and feel free to mail
me with your point of view.
Index
 Introduction
Pro censorship
Against censorship
The extent of the problem
Where would censorship come from
What should be censored
Anarchy
News servers
Books vs the Internet. Double standards - A case
Conclusions
References
Introduction
- Censorship on the Internet
Censorship is an issue that society has wrestled with throughout
the ages. The diversity of information available on the Internet
attracts people to it, because they can find other people with similar
interests. The Web poses new problems for censors by the very virtue
of its global nature. (Wheeler, 1995) 'No one person, organisation
or country can own the Internet, as a result it is difficult to
police'.
Background
- Pro censorship
Because Web pages are not censored who protects the rights of children
and others who use the Web. On the Web there is (Rothman, n.d.)
advertising for cigarettes and alcohol. There is also pornography
and instructions on making incendiary devices. Surely these are
the things that children and others should not be exposed to. The
government provides censorship in the form of ratings and sale/
viewing restrictions on printed matter and films, so why not the
Web? (Bertrand, 1978)'There is no doubt about the demoralising influence...and
the sooner people are prevented from making fortunes at the expense
of the community the better'.
Against
censorship
The Web however provides a valuable resource, allowing individuals
to publish their views at low cost. If it were not for the Web there
would not be the vicissitude of viewpoints available. So the Web
offers (Shallit, 1994) both a freedom of speech as well as freedom
to access information. It can also be argued that the Internet merely
reflects society. Just as there are streets in your city one would
not send ones child down unaccompanied, there are also places like
that on the Internet. (Rich, 1997) 'The fact is that if you want
to access that sort of material you have to go looking for it'.
(Cornog, 1991)
No one wants a society where books are burnt because they do not
express the viewpoint of the majority. Censorship on the Internet
is exactly the same thing, restricting material and information
from public access.
Principal
arguments
The extent of the problem
Yahoo search engine whilst not
having catalogued every Internet page is a large random sample.
They (O'Connor, 1996) claim that pages related to sex make up only
0.4% of all Internet pages. Thus the relative amount of them is
small and it is unlikely that one would stumble across them by chance.
As part of
the research for this project a (Perry, J ., pers. comm. May
27, 1997) Sydney based ISP was contacted and asked what ten newsgroups
are the most popular. Although they responded with a list of ten
newsgroups related to sex their information was based on bytes downloaded.
Given that pictures can take up more bytes than 50 text messages
the results from this simple random sample are invalidated by the
biased measurement technique.
Up
Where
would censorship come from
Censorship would have to come from one or more of the following
four levels;
Government
Advantage
Legislation would be overt and subject to public consultation as
well as the appeals process and the judicial system.
Disadvantage
Governments only control geographical areas. Any attempt at censorship
would just mean the authors move their pages to other countries.
Short of supervising each individual user it is unworkable.
Authors
Advantage
Most authors already have a warning about the nature of their work
(particularly erotica) if it could be considered offensive.
Disadvantage
It would require joint agreement from every Web author. It (Campaign
for Internet freedom, n.d.) would also result in inconsistency of
rating if it were not controlled by a central body.
Internet
Service Provider
Advantage
Easier to police than end user control.
Disadvantage
It is not in ISP’s commercial interests to provide censorship.
Once again the type of censorship would be inconsistent between
ISP’s and there would be no checks and balances or rights of
appeal.
End
User
Advantage
Individuals would supervise their children when they use the Web
teaching them their own value system and what is right or wrong.
Disadvantage
Not all parents can supervise their children at all times. At some
point children need to learn to be responsible for their actions.
Another form
of end user censorship is through third party software such as Surf Watch or Net Nanny.
The main advantage is that it is relatively easy to install and
provides a good level of security. The main (Quittner, 1995; Meeks & McCullagh, 1996)
disadvantage is that it also blocks sites that deal with feminism,
sexual abuse recovery, animal liberation and sites that are critical of the approach
that these companies take.
In a quick
test of the capabilities of Surf Watch six URL’s
that had been chosen at random from commercial erotica provider
advertisements in newsgroups were tested on it. The software blocked
all but one of the URL’s, proving that it is not infallible.
Up
What
should be censored
One of the main topics on Web censorship is what should be censored.
This is largely a moral question with no one right or wrong answer.
For example is information about safe sex practices objectionable.
Does this change if it approached from the viewpoint of a homosexual?
Censorship
at any level other than end user level would block these pages from
all users. It could be argued that people as adults have a right
to choose the material they view, rather than have it imposed upon
them.
Anarchy
With regards to bomb making instructions on the Web, the same information
is available from any number of military manuals in public libraries.
Probably the most publicised bomb making instructions on the Web
is "The
big book of mischief". However most people do not realise
that that this is only an extract from a book that is available
for anyone to order from any Angus & Robertson
or Dymocks book store.
News
servers
(Gebis, 1994) As a result of censorship at the ISP level there are
a number of pages on the Web instructing readers how to get around
items such as news
servers that have been censored. These pages however have a
legitimate use for students in countries such as China where accurate
news about the outside world has been blocked.
Books vs The Internet. Double standards
- A case
Charles Sturt University in
Albury Australia offers courses in art and photography. As a result
they have a number of books and periodicals in their library that
deal with that subject.
Some of these
books are titled homo-erotic photography and a periodical they keep
has graphically detailed pictures that outline experimental art
such as paint enemas and using ones genitals in lui of a paintbrush.
The same university
has chosen to censor their newsgroup access and ensure around 50%
of the alt.binary groups are not available, even when most of the
images contained in them could be considered far less shocking than
the ones they keep in their library.
The point being
made here is not to censor the books in the library, but rather
to let the end user judge for themselves as adults what they would
like to view.
Conclusions
Web censorship can take place at a variety of levels. End user censorship
is probably one of the best solutions, either through third party
software or supervision of minors. This method ensures that the
diversity of viewpoints and sites available is not compromised for
all users.
Conversely
censorship at the ISP level depends on the ISP’s viewpoint
which is then imposed on all the ISP’s customers.
Self ratings
given to pages is the second best solution, however this also opens
the way for ISP’s to block either unrated pages or pages that
do not conform to their viewpoint. Already most commercial sex sites
provide explicit warnings and require users to verify their age.
Censorship
is largely a moral question and there is no right or wrong answer
that would apply to all people. There is no doubt though that minors
should be protected from the type of material available.
However the
quote that probably sms up any attempt at censorship is (Gilmore,
n.d.) "The Internet views censorship as damage and routes around
it". Finally, what debate on censorship would be complete without
a (Cadie, 1994) picture of a naked women. Click
here.
Up
References,
Traditional
Bertrand, I. (1978).
Film censorship in Australia
University of Queensland: St.
Lucia.
Cornog, M.
(1991).
Libaries: Erotica & Pornography
Oryx: Arizona.
Rich, D. (1997).
More on 60 Minutes, Readers opinions.
The Sydney Morning
Herald
April 15., p. 8c.
Wheeler,
K. (1995).
What is the Internet ?
Internet Overview
Produced for Albury Local Internet. September 1995.
Electronic
Cadie, K.
(1994).
Sex, censorship and the Internet
University of Illinios
URL: http://www.eff.org/CAF/cafuiuc.html
Gebis,
J. (1994)
How to receive banned newsgroups FAQ
(n.d.)
Version 1.1, December 30, 1994 quoted.
URL:
http://www.mit.edu/activities/safe/safe/fighting-back/ how-to-get-banned-news
Gilmore, J.
(n.d.). cited in n.d.
Items the censors don't want you to see
Freedom of Expression.
(n.d.)
URL:
http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/safe/notsee.html
Meeks,
B. & McCullagh, D. (1996).
Keys to the Kingdom
CyberWire Dispatch
URL:
http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/ Declan_McCullagh/cwd.keys.to.the.kingdom.0796.article
O'Connor, R.
(1996).
Debate continues to heat up over sex on the Net
Mercury Center, San Jose Mercury News
URL: http://www.sjmercury.com/netmyth.htm
Quittner, J.
(1995).
Filter out the naughty bits
TIME Domestic, July 3, 1995 Volume 146, No. 1
URL:
http://www.eff.org/pub/Censorship /Ratings_filters_labelling/surfwatch.article
Rothman,
D. (n.d.).
$478,821+ to Jim Exon, Bob Dole and 11 Other net.nannies
(n.d.)
URL: http://www.clark.net/pub/rothman/exon.htm
Shallit, J. (1994).
Ten fallacies of Internet censorship.
Department of Computer Science, University of Waterloo Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada.
URL:
gopher://insight.mcmaster.ca:70/0R0-19485-/org/efc /doc/ten-fallacies.27apr94
Version May 5, 1995 quoted.
Author
unknown - Electronic
info@wentworth.com
(1996)
Censorship, Freedom of speech, Child safety on the Internet
(n.d.)
URL: http://omni.voicenet.com/~cranmer/censorship.html
n.d. (n.d.).
Campaign for Internet freedom
Internet Freedom, U.K.
URL: http://www.easynet.co.uk/cam/censorship/
n.d. (n.d.).
Surfwatch test a site
URL: http://fido.siv.spyglass.com/testasite/
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