I am just wondering wether we actually own a press now ourselves or merely use a common one that is provided to us by higher authorities. My point is that we seem to have unlimited possibilities to spread our thoughts on the internet, however at the same time there are still a lot of things being censored, modified and monitored by higher powers that either legally or illegally seem to have the real power over what happens on the internet. So are we really that free in spreading our thoughts on the internet or is this maybe just an illusion?
onsdag 2 november 2011
Do we really own a press of our own?
I just wanted to post a response to one of the key messages from todays lecture. One of the statements during the lecture about freedom of press in the past was that "freedom of press is only for those who own one". Nowadays we all own a press, that is, through the internet we are able to spread are own opinion very easily and quickly at basically no costs.
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"at the same time there are still a lot of things being censored, modified and monitored by higher powers"
SvaraRaderaIs there?
When I read the first paragraph I already had an answer ready because I though I knew what your point would be (that when everyone shouts noone gets heard).
Benkler might also argue (also one of the main points) that while social media hasn't made society perfect, it's still a lot better than what it was before the breakthrough of Internet/social media.
Still, I think the question posed above is open; are "a lot of things" being censored on the Internet or not?
I certainly agree with the fact that freedom of press is better now than it was before, I just think we have to be cautious about the assumptions we make regarding our freedom to do or write whatever we want on the Internet.
SvaraRaderaI think that the censorship I was referring to was or is at least still going on in areas such as the Middle East or in countries such as china. Since we live in the West, we are not bothered by this so much. Internet censorship has been used to gain control over people, when other measures fail. Maybe the amount of stuff that happens "behind the scenes" is related to the wealth of a country i.e. more crisis = more censorship
I know my assumptions might be a little bold but the fact is that in some places in the world there is more control over what happens on the internet than others. I just wonder why this is so, so what the driving force behind this is..