Inter-Nuts

What happens when someone on the internet makes threats but no form of authority is there to take action? And what happens when someone from the federal government takes too much action and the other person’s privacy has been violated. The issue of whether or not government should be allowed to regulate information on the internet has been very controversial. However, the federal government should absolutely be permitted to regulate information on the internet on the internet while adhering to very strict guidelines and rules.

Every day, people are surfing the web, whether it be school related, a personal question, or even shopping. There are millions of websites out there, some being immensely dangerous or inappropriate. Allowing the federal government to regulate information on the internet will provide an effective way of either halting the behavior or further monitoring to ensure that nothing suspicious has been occurring on the website. In doing so, websites that target children for the benefit of child molesters can be taken down immediately and the appropriate consequences will be given. There are so many websites that either post inappropriate things or lure certain groups of people to them. A recent study showed that 79 percent of Americans believe that the government should do something about the issue of dangerous strangers making contact with children. This same study showed that 62 percent of Americans agree that government should be involved when regarding false advertising (Blendon, Benson, Altman, Rosenbaum, Flournoy, Kim 47). The truth is, the web surfer cannot be certain of who is behind that false advertisement. It could be simply harmless or it could result in the stealing of someone’s identity.

Surprisingly, more Americans are worried that the government will not involve itself enough in the issue of pornography rather than the possibility of the government involving itself too much in other issues. As Americans, we give up some rights to receive protection but how much of our privacy are we giving away when the government is allowed to regulate the internet? Although it can be very beneficial, the reality is that there are also many negative factors. For instance, as unfortunate as it is, there are corrupt officials that may take advantage of this opportunity. This is where the issue of boundaries and guidelines come in to play because without them, the allowance of regulation could get out of hand. Even if it is not intentional, officials may take things too far and violate someone’s privacy. There needs to be rules put in place to limit the amount of perusing that the government does through people’s private things. Another way to prevent the government from getting away with looking through personal information that is out of bounds is to notify the person that their things have been looked through (Stanton).

Another beneficial aspect of having the government regulate the internet is that they would be able to catch criminals by monitoring certain websites. In particular, there was a case where officers put a fake advertisement on the internet to target men who were suspected of prostitution. They received several hits and proceeded to monitoring the website over time. This allowed them to catch multiple people who asked for the price of specific sexual acts (BRIEF). Allowing government to monitor websites like this is beneficial in the regard that it is easier and more efficient to catch people committing illegal acts.

In retrospect, allowing the government to regulate the internet is very rewarding if they adhere to the guidelines. Many cases have proven that it has saved lives and caught criminals. However, it has also violated the privacy of innocent people. Therefore, guidelines should be put in place in order to prevent the government from crossing boundaries that they should not be crossing. As long as these strict rules are followed, then regulation of the internet should be enacted and performed.

  Works Cited Blendon, Robert, et. al. "Whom to Protect and How? The Public, the Government, and the Internet Revolution?" The Brookings Review, 2001. Print.

Stanton, Lynn. "Government seen as 'bully pulpit' for data privacy, internet of things." Cybersecurity Policy Report 24 Aug. 2015. General OneFile. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

"BRIEF: Simi Valley police use phony online ad to catch men seeking sex." Ventura County Star [Ventura, CA] 19 Dec. 2012. General OneFile. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. (MDC student M. Hernandez)