Right To Be Forgotten Essay

805 Words2 Pages

The Right to be Forgotten

It is not necessary to explain how much technology impacts the everyday lives of citizens. Before the change of the millennium, the internet was impractical for everyday use, phones were the size of Nike Air Force One’s, and small legal offenses did not follow people out of their hometown. Today, I can google any person’s name and read about their life. If someone were to google my name they would find selfies, social media accounts, and my ancestry information; however, the search results would be much different if I committed legal offenses. Three articles from benton.org discuss this issue. After a recent court ruling in Europe, Europeans now have protection against, well, being stupid. Any user under the age of 18 can erase posts that they made on social media. After these posts are erased the user will no longer be held accountable for them. Documents withholding details and names about old court cases and convictions also have to be deleted from search engines. Several states are adopting their own version of the “Right to be Forgotten” ruling. Although I do not believe criminal offenses should be deleted from the internet, I do agree that we should implement a version of the “Right to be Forgotten” in the United States which will …show more content…

BBC news reports that the average human brain reaches maximum maturity at age 25—ten to thirteen years after most students log onto their first social media sites (Lucy Wallis). Undeveloped maturity levels can result in making imprudent posts and comments on the internet. Also, underdeveloped brains lead to poor stress management skills, causing young students to use social media as an outlet to express their frustrations. If the internet is free to use at all ages, there should be laws to protect the youth from postings made before they reached

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