Global Internet Freedom On The Decline In 2014

[Guest]

Internet Freedom declined globally in 2014, as more governments tried to assert control over the Internet.

Global Internet Freedom On The Decline In 2014 : Read more

 

[Guest]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online. People shouldn't be able to do or say anything harmful without any consequences. Just like in the real world, people do go to jail for such things, and they are restricted in what kinds of stuff they can say as well (eg. no verbal threats, violence, or otherwise harmful behavior).

 

[thefiend1]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online.

Once you start down this line it will become harder to regain that freedom. That goes for anything.

 

[billgatez]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online.

So you are okay with the government snooping through your private information and censoring things that go aganset there plans or views?
I am all for preventing cyberbullying. But this is not the way to do it.

 

[leeb2013]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online. People shouldn't be able to do or say anything harmful without any consequences. Just like in the real world, people do go to jail for such things, and they are restricted in what kinds of stuff they can say as well (eg. no verbal threats, violence, or otherwise harmful behavior).

The reason you got negd is because people like to say whatever they want about other people these day, no matter how hurtful or damaging as long as they can remain behind the anonymous barrier of the internet. They think they should be able to say stuff that they wouldn't if their identity is know as they would end up in jail. That's the way society is going. Do and say whatever you want, without a thought for any one else and without consequence. It's now becoming the norm, so when you ask people to be decent, you are seen to be in the wrong. Harmful online attacks on people is nothing to do with freedom of speech, but it's now seen that way.

 

[eriko]

I guessed you've never heard of Edward Snowden, nor the NSA.

Engage mind before keyboard.

 

[belter]

Freedom is on the decline. That is what you get with liberalism.

 

[dyl47]

This comment has been removed due to a local government request

 

[qlum]

Interestingly to make a point freedom is in decline yet don't take up Scandinavia and the Benelux which generally move in the other direction

 

[salmansheikh]

@leeb2013 You are absolutely right, now a days people have no ethics. The anonymity of the internet has liberated everyone; and this isn't a good thing at all. People are not smart enough to handle that much freedom.

 

[dstarr3]

There are two parts to being a socially responsible human being:
1) Not running around saying stupid things to people
2) Being able to ignore people that do run around saying stupid things

If you think free speech should only extend to things worth saying, you're not doing your part as a socially responsible human being.

 

[Fierce Guppy]

Yes, and of course Scandinavia is going in the same direction. Sweden's government made it a criminal offence to elicit the wrong opinion about Muslim immigration.

 

[Guest]

Are you hurt by cyber bullying? No. Information can't hurt you. You can ignore it. You can turn off the machine. You can change accounts. Bullying in the real world is a problem, because you can't just switch it off.

If you're not allowed to say anything you want online anonymously, then automatically you aren't allowed to criticize the government, expose corruption or even seek help online for socially frowned upon subjects.

@leeb2013 "people like to say whatever they want about other people these day, no matter how hurtful or damaging"

The problem these days is that people are so weak that they let words damage them. Whatever happened to "sticks and stones"?

 

[g-thor]

As I see it, we don't need censorship on the Internet, or some way to remove the stupid/intimidating/irritating things people post. We need a way to hold them accountable for their words. As @magnetite2 noted (even though he's been voted down so badly) if those things were written in a news article, or published in a way that identified the author, they could and would be taken to court. That's being held responsible - having to answer for what you said.

It's the ability to hide who you are that makes the comments particularly vicious. Consider the women who've been threatened with sexual assault and/or death for daring to suggest changes in the video game industry. If those threatening were required to link their real identity to what they were saying, they'd be called to task over it. In that case they probably wouldn't make the threats, they'd engage in a debate - maybe with some name calling or nasty comments, but the threats would not be there because of consequences.

So, I don't support censorship, but I do support accountability.

 

[SessouXFX]

Never give away your rights to the government. Never. Every time you give away a little, the Government takes another step closer to becoming a Statist Utopia, and before you know it, we'd be no better off than the Chinese or Russians.

 

[LORD_ORION]

You should go read "The Authoritarians" by Bob Altemeyer (free book).

"I have nothing to hide, so go ahead" is the worst excuse in the world considering the type of people that rise to power and the type of people that support them without question.

I'm not saying any specific country is as bad a Nazi Germany, but the type of people censoring the internet and those supporting it are the same type of people (in measurable social science / behavioral metrics) who caused the holocaust.

 

[MessengerofDeath]

Freedom is in much shorter supply now on the internet sense I first remember using it back in the 90's. I expect that will get even worse as government seems to want more and more power over it. They now have control over the ISP's which some people say is in the name of "fairness" but "fairness" is a point of view. Bottom line I don't trust them.

 

[Christopher1]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online.

So you are okay with the government snooping through your private information and censoring things that go aganset there plans or views?
I am all for preventing cyberbullying. But this is not the way to do it.

Cyberbullying is a made-up non-issue for any website that PROPERLY has the ability to 'squelch' comments from commenters who are harassing you.
Personally, I just ignore the comments, as long as they keep it online I do not give a whit about how much someone attacks me.

 

[Christopher1]

Asking a Government if they breach human rights about spying is like allowing pedophiles to make limits on what is abuse.

No, this is more like allowing someone with X point of view to say that people with Y point of view should be harassed and punished.

 

[brettms71]

People are confusing freedom of speech with cyberbullying. I agree that people should just ignore the usual stupid comments from people. But some of the stuff we see with death threats and "I know where you live" stuff goes beyond just turning off a device. That needs to be stopped and focused on along with removing censorship in some countries, not removing peoples freedom of speech.

 

[DecafTable]

Let's not forgot we may not have laws pertaining to this, but there has already been people put in jail for what they've said online taken as threats against someone even though they were merely expressing themselves.

 

[f-14]

magnetite2 that is an endorsement for cyber bullying by some one much bigger and more powerful than you.
bully's censor what other people say all the time, all they do is make a fist and hold it up for the speaker to see or start smacking that fist in their other hand.

the very moment you repress or silence some one is the moment speech is not free any more, you put a price tag on their thoughts and actions as well as their voice.

leeb2013 i can tell you are not a new yorker, nor an american. if you can't handle some one saying something bad about you, you need to seek a professional head shrink. i've got all kinds of people saying bad things about me because i make them look bad, or because i am worse than they are, or because i look nice or terrible, or an idea i had was just half baked or got their prize plan tossed out or interfered with their own personal criminal or self profiting agenda...the list is too damn long. grow a pair and man up stop clucking like an old hen adapt and over come or fight fire with an atomic bomb.

if you have a problem with this then your best solution is to remove every ones brain and install every one with the same robotic program you desire them to have and settle for nothing ever getting better and nothing changing and the world as a whole going down the drain.

while i know what american rights and freedoms are, most people aren't willing to see the pro's and the cons, let alone measure them or fight for them " thinking hurts their brain and feelings "
and at the same time i understand the rest of the world is not america and you have only what your government ALLOWS you to have and that it's citizenry lacks the will to fight for more than that. as far as i am concerned, you ALLOW your government to do that to you, and you will do nothing that is required to take what you want....and that's fine by me, just don't ask me to bleed, sweat, cry or pay for you to have the ability to have more.... you will just piss it away because your country en masse don't want it , don't value it, and are unwilling to die for it if necessary. current examples are iraq and afganistan.

 

[user_friendly]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online.

Tisk tisk, its people like you ruining not just principals of freedom; but the freedoms of those around you. If you want to live in a censored society try going to china where they just recently banned google this year. That's the reaction you get from the government when you want to give up free speech; all because when you go online your little eyes are offended by words.

 

[salmansheikh]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online.

Tisk tisk, its people like you ruining not just principals of freedom; but the freedoms of those around you. If you want to live in a censored society try going to china where they just recently banned google this year. That's the reaction you get from the government when you want to give up free speech; all because when you go online your little eyes are offended by words.

And it's that same China that's outpacing your country (USA) in terms of economy. Heck! The only good thing you guys sell is weapons, your country needs war to thrive. And people in your country are neither hardworking nor smart. You get so many "benifits" from your government that you start thinking that it's your right to have them, whereas all your benifits come from War and War alone. The preacher of freedom is the biggest source of slavery and destruction, your country USA that's what it is.

 

[DecafTable]

I'd be okay with limiting free speech if it meant that there would be less cyberbullying online.

Tisk tisk, its people like you ruining not just principals of freedom; but the freedoms of those around you. If you want to live in a censored society try going to china where they just recently banned google this year. That's the reaction you get from the government when you want to give up free speech; all because when you go online your little eyes are offended by words.

And it's that same China that's outpacing your country (USA) in terms of economy. Heck! The only good thing you guys sell is weapons, your country needs war to thrive. And people in your country are neither hardworking nor smart. You get so many "benifits" from your government that you start thinking that it's your right to have them, whereas all your benifits come from War and War alone. The preacher of freedom is the biggest source of slavery and destruction, your country USA that's what it is.

Seriously, this is no place to be throwing insults against someone's country. That was totally unwarranted.