Cyberspace Independence What were the political and cultural beliefs that inspired John Perry Barlow’s Declaration of Cyberspace Independence? To what extent do you support his argument that the internet should be free from regulation – and particularly that national governments should have no sovereignty over the internet? Globally, the internet has an immense social, political and economic impact. For many years since the advent of the internet, the topic of internet regulation has been one of the most contentious issues across the world. John Perry Barlow was an advocate for free speech and an activist for digital rights. His Declaration of Cyberspace Independence was inspired by the belief that people had people had the right to access the internet freely, and to express themselves (Abbate, 2017). The declaration comprised sixteen paragraphs in which Barlow advised that governments should allow the internet to develop methods of solving its problems. Barlow accuses countries such as China, Russia, Singapore and France of controlling the internet. The declaration was important because it enabled people to express themselves openly without fear of being policed or censured.
Buy this excellently written paper or order a fresh one from ace-myhomework.com
The declaration of cyberspace independence has helped shape the internet into a place where people have the liberty to express themselves. However, as the internet continues to grow and gives more people an opportunity to connect and communicate; there are people who abuse this platform, and as a result, make the internet harmful for others (Kelty, 2014). Such people include pedophiles, racists, terrorists and misogynists. Barlow wrote the declaration as a time when the internet was relatively safer than it is today. The government should intervene in situations where people’s safety is threatened.
Reference List for Journal Exercise 1 Kelty, C. (2014). The Fog of Freedom. [online] Kelty.org. Available at: https://kelty.org/or/papers/Kelty_2014_Fog_of_Freedom.pdf [Accessed 11 Sep. 2019]. Abbate, J. (2017) What and where is the Internet? (Re)defining Internet histories, Internet Histories, 1:1-2, 8-14, DOI: 10.1080/24701475.2017.1305836
Journal Exercise Question 2 In his book Search Engine Society, Alex Havalais suggests there are limits to our capacity to attend to information. These shape the way we look for information, and the investment we are willing to make in search and media consumption. What is the attention economy and what key media and communications strategies have emerged to exploit people’s limited attention online? Internet structure and search engine demand are determined by internet-users attention span. The internet avails a great amount of information, but it is not guaranteed that people will read it all, since they have limited time and a wide array of options. According to Havalais (2013) the attention economy is a management information strategy that considers human attention to be in scarce supply especially when availed with abundant information. The attention economy has a significant impact on how information is produced, as well as how and when it is shared. Various strategies have emerged to capitalize on people’s limited time online. These including search engine optimization, which involves curating a company’s website content to match search behavior. It is also essential for companies to ensure that their websites and social media platforms have user-friendly interfaces, thus making it easier and faster for internet-users to consume information. Additionally, companies and individuals can increase the visibility of their webpages and social media advertisements by paying search engines such as Google or social media corporations such as Facebook and Twitter (Berman & McClellan, 2002). This strategy also enables companies to target the desired demographic more effectively. Reference List for Journal Exercise 2
Berman, S. J., & McClellan, B. E. (2002). Ten strategies for survival in the attention economy. Strategy & Leadership, 30(3), 28-33. Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com Havalais, A. (2013) ‘The Engines’. In Search Engine Society. Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press.
Journal Exercise 3 Using one example of digital, networked infrastructure or logistical media mentioned in the lecture or readings this week (the cloud, mobile phones, National Broadband Network, Facebook Basics, locative media or the Aadhar card) and briefly discuss its political, economic and social benefits and its ‘costs’ or risks. Use evidence for your claims. Facebook has approximately 700 million users making it the largest social media platform in the world. While Facebook is not a country, it has such a high number of users that it was a country it would have the third largest population in the world. Facebook has made it easier and faster for people to connect, and also made it possible for companies to integrate their websites, products and services into the social media platform, for easy access. However, despite being an effective communication platform, there have been legitimate concerns about the social media site’s mismanagement of user data (Wilken, 2015). In 2015, reports began to emerge that Facebook was harvesting user data and sharing it with Cambridge Analytica. The harvested data was allegedly used to influence the outcome of Brexit and the United States’ 2016 election. Additionally, Facebook has been accused of supplying user’s phone numbers for purposes of advertising. Facebook has immense social, political and economic benefits. Socially, it enables people to connect and communicate with family, friends and colleagues across the world. Politically, it exposes individuals to political news and provides them with an opportunity to air their opinions (MacKinnon, 2013). Economically, Facebook allows businesses across the world to trade their goods and services to a wider market. Reference List for Journal Exercise 3 MacKinnon, R. (2013). Consent Of The Networked. New York: Basic Books.
Wilken, R. (2015). "Mobile Media And Ecologies Of Location." Communication Research and Practice 1.1. Web.
Journal Exercise #4 As Adrienne Massanari suggests in your reading for this week, the design of online communities can support or even encourage antisocial behaviour. She gives the example of Reddit, which allows anonymous posting, or at least pseudonymity (where users adopt a nickname and assumed identity), and the creation of multiple user accounts, two factors that enable the harassment of female and minority users. Give another example of anti-social 'conversational' or dialogic behaviour online from the readings or the lecture this week and discuss why this phenomenon might be occurring. Then suggest two strategies to combat the problem you have highlighted.
According to Adrienne Massanari, social media platforms are abused by some users because they promote anonymity and pseudonymity. This leads to incidents where people’s security is threatened. An example of the anti-social use of social media a rising trend called inceldom. Incels are young men who have a strong hatred for women that they show by forming groups online to bash feminism, plot violent attacks against women and lobby for the state to allow rape on forums such as Reddit, Incels.me and 4chan. Instead of accepting rejection or learning how to approach women in a different way, they turn into misogynists who use the internet to express their anger and frustration (Coles, 2018). The growth and radicalization of incels primarily happens online. Incels hate women for rejecting their advances because they feel that they are denied something that they should be entitled to. This makes them believe that women should be blamed and punished for rejecting them. Incels have a misconstrued idea of how a man should be, commonly referred to as toxic masculinity. An incel believes that manhood involves
aggression, dominance and authority over women. The internet contributes significantly to the spread of incels since it provides platform where they can congregate and freely discuss their hatred of society and also incite each other to commit dangerous or violent acts against their perceived oppressors (Ging, 2017). To prevent the spread and radicalization of inceldom, platforms such as Reddit, Incels.me and 4Chan should be closely monitored and any threats detected should be acted upon promptly. The internet should also be closely monitored to govern against the spread of hateful messages (Martin, 2007). Reference List for Journal Exercise 4 Coles, T.(2018). "How Men Get To The Point Where They Identify As 'Incel'". Huffingtonpost, https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/06/05/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ 2018/06/05/incel_a_23451320/incel_a_23451320/. Accessed 11 Sep 2019. Ging, D. (2017). "Alphas, Betas, And Incels". Men And Masculinities. 1097184X1770640. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/1097184x17706401. Martin, F. (2007). Internet Transformations: Mediating the Conversation. Australian Communications Action Network (ACCAN)
Journal Exercise #5 Net neutrality is the premise that an internet service provider (ISP) should provide equal access to all websites, information and applications. When there is net neutrality, it is not legal for ISPs to slow down, block or charge for access to certain content, applications or websites. However, without net neutrality, ISPs have the right to restrict access to certain services and websites, and also charge internet-users a premium charge in order to access others (Marsden, 2017). The concept of net neutrality also means that internet service providers that own media stations are not permitted to favor their content over their competitors. In the United States, net neutrality has been a contentious issue for over two decades. In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission withdrew net neutrality with the aim of allowing the ISP industry to compete without regulation, and for ISPs to classify how much bandwidth to allocate to certain platforms and websites (Belli et al., 2015). For instance, under the net neutrality repeal, it is now possible for emergency medical services to be prioritized over gaming services. Australia should maintain net neutrality because it prevents the ISP market from being controlled by monopolists and olygopolists. The repeal of net neutrality will open the market to unfair competition, and reduce consumer protection. Reference List for Journal Exercise 5 Marsden, C. (2017). Network Neutrality: From Policy To Law To Regulation. Manchester University Press. Belli, Luca et al. (2015). Net Neutrality Compendium. Springer.