Imagine if there was a person who can track your movements and find out where you live. This is scary in real life for all of us, but have you thought about the same scenario in the virtual world? I can figure out which websites you are browsing right now because you forgot to clean up your digital footprint. Internet users can be easily tracked from the IP address of their personal computer. Digital footprinting is helpful in finding a person who hacked a company's system or posted inappropriate content on a website. Thus, there has been a debate about Internet regulations and freedom of speech.
Some people argue that freedom of speech is incompatible with internet censorship. Their claim is based on the fact that the internet is a virtual world which can not be compared with the real world. For example, David had a facebook page on animal rights, yet nothing has been done by him to protect the homeless animals on the street. An online page is like a paper, if you could not find it and contribute a movement to what's written, then it will fade away without being noticed. On the other hand, others believe that freedom of speech is strongly associated with internet regulation. Freedom of speech gives a person the ability to express themselves without being stopped. The same concept applies on internet censorship because browsing the web shall not be limited by a higher authority. For example, Lara is writing an article about harassments in lower income families. She found a lot of resources on cyberbullying, racial but few on sexual harassment. Her research could not be completed since most websites are being blocked by the government due to explicit content. Lara's freedom of reading was restricted and she had to change the topic of her paper.
In conclusion, I believe that the government should not regulate the internet because people have the well to make their own choices. This well should be respected as long as it will not harm the society. The overall aspect of internet censorship is associated with respect and morals. Both can be obtained from the education system and parenting behaviours. Once those two are gained, the world would be a better one.
