Reasons to End Social Poisoning on the Internet

Reasons to End Social Poisoning on the Internet

[NOTE: Many of the links the student refers to are no longer active.]

While spreading the word of knowledge to the masses, the internet simultaneously dispenses social poisons. Many of the recipients are, unfortunately, children, and despite the American policy of free-speech, this kind of unintentional inculcation must stop. One of the problems lies in the fact that the right to criticize and the right to display "poisonous" material are one in the same: The Right of Freedom of Speech. But should a clear and present danger to social health take priority over the rights of an individual? Does the individual even have power? In Digital Literacy, Paul Gilster observes that "A global web of communications... points to a viruslike spread of ideas" (Gilster 27). Should society protect its youth from this "viruslike spread" by regulating content on the internet? These questions are tough to answer, but this paper will address them, introduce a socially harmful hate site, and reveal why society needs to be rid of the poison on the internet.

One of the problems with social contemplation on this subject, though, is that this situation is relatively unknown to history. Though the power structure of the internet has been compared to centralized government, decentralized government and social anarchy, Jess Holbrook, in a discussion on November 24, accurately cited the internet as being "unlike anything else we’ve ever seen." So perhaps time should be taken to evaluate the effects of the internet on not just the nation’s youth, but the nation in general. While the evaluation is taking place, the presence of these social poisons on the internet must be recognized.

The American Nazi ...

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... real life himself, only the former is readily available to children. There needs to be a body which regulates the poison on the internet and makes it safe for the child to "surf the net." Not all sites on the internet are terrifying and problematic. But imagine a black child, whose ancestors survived the slave trade, coming across the American Nazi Party site, and "learning" that they are evil because of their skin color. No child should be exposed to this.

Works Cited

- Bolter, David Jay. Writing Space; The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hillsdale, New Jersey; 1991.

- Gilster, Paul. Digital Literacy. Wiley Computer Publishing. New York.

- Hall III, William B. "American Nazi Party." 28 November 1998. 5 December 1998 <http://home.earthlink.net/~wbhall/>.

- Landow, George P. Hypertext 2.0. Johns Hopkins.