What Governs the Internet?

The Internet is very difficult to govern and there are different ways to do this but success is not easily measured.

Self Regulation. The user should be responsible for the way he uses the Internet. Prohibition of viewing lewd material or harmful propaganda should be regulated by the discretion of the individual who sits in front of the computer.

If the said individual is also a website owner, especially if the website is an adult or gambling site, he or she should be responsible enough to add a disclaimer or a warning about the risk factor of adult viewing or gambling.

Unfortunately, this type of regulation is not really observed by almost every user of the Internet. Minors can easily access the prohibited websites and watch pornography or gamble by simply clicking the mouse.

Parental Control. The parents should be active on the regulation of their children’s access on the Internet. The parents have the right to directly control the extent of use of Internet inside the home. Minors should always be closely monitored. To ensure that these young people will not go astray on the big, bad world of the Internet, the parents can install a program that automatically blocks the entry of undesirable websites.

What if the parents are irresponsible and indifferent? Or just simply ignorant and do not know how to use the computer or the Internet? More often than not, children learn to use the Internet outside the home. Nowadays, the favorite places to hang-out for youngsters are the computer shops where the games played are for more violent and more graphic not suitable for children. Alas, computer shop owners do not care about censorship as long as the computers for rent earn money.

Parents should really play a bigger role in their children’s lives. Be vigilant and always alert to detect any problem arising from use or over-use of the Internet.

Internet Service Providers (or ISPs). There is an ongoing debate on what role the Internet Service Providers, also called ISPs, should really play on the proper governance of the Internet. Suggestions and ideas about setting up surveillance equipment for monitoring use had come out many times.

But these ISPs refuse to agree on any of these suggestions due to technical issues. In addition, they do not believe that they should be governing and monitoring the services they offer for Internet users.

Government Regulation. Enforcing the law over the wide virtual world of the Internet is near to impossible feat for the government. Some methods of entrapment succeed, which resulted to the capture of several child molester and pedophiles. But how many abusers are out there just waiting for a chance to attack innocent victims?

Some people disagree that the government should be given reign on the governance and regulation of the Internet because some fear that a dictatorial form of government might impose suppression over anything unbeneficial.

Conclusion. The world of the Internet is virtual and almost intangible. Looking for the perfect body to govern and to regulate might be impossible to achieve so the responsibility should be accepted by every one, adults and minors alike.

The adult individuals, especially those who are parents themselves, should be concerned and involved on making sure that the Internet is properly used and not abused by anyone. Forbidden sites should always be invisible and inaccessible to under-aged browsers. This is the ideal set-up but almost impossible to accomplish, unless all of us will take the right course of action.