With the recent debates on Net Neutrality happening and the sub-debates of filtering, monitoring and prioritizing content one issue is being ignored. But it won’t be long till this particular debate raises its head again, and with some renewed vigor. We are talking about filtering content, otherwise known as content control software.
In the home this software comes from companies like Net Nanny or Cyber Patrol, but they come at a cost. By using them you are giving up your right to choose and allowing another identity – in this case these companies – to choose for you what is acceptable and what is not. Net Nanny and Cyber Patrol would make you believe they are protecting kids from the evils of the internet. A particularly heart tugging and acceptable argument, but a flawed one at that. In the past Net Nanny has been found to block sites like the National Organization for Women, and God forbid you or the females in your life become more empowered and informed about women’s issues. Think of the harm that would come to your daughter if she knew that she was an equal to the people around her! This 40 year old, self-described feminist organization, must be out to corrupt all the young girls out there to over power their oppressive male rulers! How absurd!
The point remains that education, involvement and tolerance are the best tools to decide which content is acceptable and which is not. As the debate over who should control the internet continues, the eventual debate over who gets to decide what content is acceptable and what is not will arise. It may die fast, or become a critical argument for Net Neutrality.
I totally agree with you on this issue ! Espically here at the library, it comes up a lot and some people think the library staff are babysitters and should have the responsibility to restrict what their kids do and do not view. It is NOT our responsibility and neither is it the net nanny or whatever program is on the given computer. If these parents couldnt care less, and do not control their child’s use of the internet, then their kids will, I am sure, be finding this restricted material in other places as well, not just the library.