The Pros And Cons Of Internet Censorship

The World Wide Web is censored in order to control the availability to illegal or deceitful information citizens have. Even though Internet and Web are thrown around interchangeably in many situations, there is a difference to distinguish between them. The Internet is a massive network of networks exchanging information together, which links computers together globally. The web is a way of accessing the information available on the Internet through the correct software ("CHM Revolution"). Depending on the country, censorship can be developed into different levels of security. Especially in China, there is a high clearance of censoring that almost questions the privacy that those people have from the government. There are many techniques used to

Content contrasting with the current government or its policies is considered a threat, and would be investigated by OpenNet (Rininsland, Ændrew). Something perceived as immoral or socially unacceptable, like sexuality, gambling, and drugs would need further involvement from the government to keep them in line. They take every offence seriously, therefore any content related to armed conflict or military groups will further the necessary precautions of censorship. Lastly, the Internet tools people use to communicate through the web are closely monitored to ensure the safety of individuals and the various countries involved (Rininsland, Ændrew). Chat rooms are monitored by large amounts of government workers who dispose of the offending information exchanged between parties. Email is also subject to the filtering of the government, but is less likely to be blocked. There are some cases where text messages have even been used by the authorities (Quirk, Matthew). Some sites are blacklisted, while others are just blocked. Blacklisting is a list of IP addresses that are considered spam, and