Censoring The Internet

A sure fire way of angering every human rights organization and free speech activist is to mention the word "Censor". In a country that promises freedom of speech, you would suppose that the issue of censorship wouldn't even arise. But, like all other rights, the freedom of speech is under constant attack by government and corporations who would seek to silence the voices of the people. Every right must be actively defended or it will be taken away, the proof of this can be seen in many countries around the world. During the Arab Spring, foreign dictators attempted to prevent protest by censoring social media sites. "Come now", You must be thinking, "Our government wouldn't do that!" Really? How can you be so sure? Our government has done things you never thought they would before. This is the land of the free, not because our government is nice enough to give us freedom, but because we demand our freedom, and will have it at any cost. The second you loosen your grip on the government, your rights and freedoms will start to slip through your fingers. 

One example of government taking a swing at our freedom of speech is the "Stop Online Piracy Act" or (SOPA), which claimed to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking of counterfeit goods. Now, this all sounds good and well,  but like many other bills, this was right for abuse. 

Provisions include the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with websites they decide have infringed on a copyright.  It would also ban search engines from linking to the infringing websites, and force internet service providers to block access to the sites. It would also expand the existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of any copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison and possible fines.  

That could mean five years for uploading a video of yourself singing a song that was copyrighted by someone else.

 That could mean five years for creating a video, or uploading a picture of your child with a movie playing on your TV in the background. 

This bill would have made it very easy for government and corporations to censor what you say, and upload about their organizations, actions, words, or intentions, as well as keep tabs on your web activity.
 

 I know you will probably try to give the government the benefit of the doubt on this one. You're thinking, "Maybe they didn't intend for the bill to be used that way." But the reason for the bill is of no consequence. What matters is that it could have been used that way. What guarantee do we have that this bill wouldn't be abused? The government must realize that they have as much power as they possibly can without over stepping a very important boundary. We must hold fast against any further intrusion into our lives. We must refuse to give up anymore of our privacy. "What have we got to fear?", you might ask. "We aren't criminals. We aren't saying or doing anything illegal. Why should I care if the government is keeping tabs on my web activity?". And now I must ask this question of you... Do we need to be criminals to have the right to desire privacy? Maybe you aren't committing a crime, does that mean you want a camera on you every moment of your life?

Thanks to the many people and websites who apposed the SOPA bill, it was not passed. But where SOPA has fallen, many more internet censorship bills have, and will continue to arise.

 TPP,  SOPA, PROTECT IP Act, Cispa, and  ACTA are just some of the bills that have attempted to quiet you.

And there are others which may not be obvious to you, due to vague information, loose terms, or multiple interpretations or definitions. Keep your eyes on new bills and our politicians. Remember that we must stand up for ourselves. We cannot expect to be treated fairly by a government which has repeatedly attempted to pass laws that would strip away our rights.

It is up to you