Should Social Media be Moderated?

The rise of the Internet has taken a really fast pace and it has become a huge resource related with the distribution of information and mass communication. In this way, Internet allows the dissemination of information throughout the world at a very little cost. This has also been helped by the increase in the number of computers and smartphones that are available these days in a large number of homes. In this way, Internet is all set to become the most accessible form of obtaining information throughout the world.

There is a debate going on regarding the need for moderation of social networking sites. In this regard, while some claim that these social networking sites are harmful, there are many who believe that social networking has its benefits.

The advocates of the moderation of social networking sites claim that these sites are very bad and they are an addiction for the young generation. It has been seen that these days, even the children less than 10 years of age have a large number of accounts on different sides. In this way, these children can become easy targets of bullying or blackmailing as in most of the cases, the parents are not aware of the various accounts of their children. On the other hand, the children are not capable of dealing with the pressure and sometimes may give in to the demands of the stalker.

It has been revealed by a number of studies that despite the presence of many precautions and safety questions, still it can be said that these sites are unsafe. Similarly, many studies have pointed out towards the evidence that reveals the effect of some social networking sites on the self-esteem, social life and interests of the children. At the same time, many people believe that these social networking sites are harmful as these sites lead to addiction, as well as some business problems. Similarly, people start feeling insecure when they have provided their personal information on these websites. Cyber bullying is the most harmful aspect of social networking and it has also become very common these days.

As a result, the question arises if social media needs to be moderated.

In this regard, it needs to be noted that already boundaries have been prescribed on “free speech” within the society. Generally we endorse a balancing act according to which, the individuals are allowed to express their opinions or beliefs but at the same time they are not allowed to impede the protection provided to the human rights of other people. As a result, for example if a person expresses abuse towards the other person, for example racism, it may be considered to be falling outside the boundaries of free speech and as a result, such a person can be punished for it. In this way, it is only the extension of the principle that while protecting the right of expression of a person, but at the same time, the rights of other persons also need to be protected, including the right not to be abused. As a result, especially the sites that spread hatred or aim at other groups in the society, need to be banned as these actions do not fall within the protection provided by the right of free speech. The harm that can be caused by such sites easily outweighs the potential harm that can be caused by limiting speech, that too in a small number of cases including such websites.

At the same time, some governments have already found sufficient cause for banning the social networking sites like Facebook. Similarly, many cities in the UK faced destruction and devastation after the social networking sites were used for coordinating wide scale riots and as a result of which, a number of cities including London, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Gloucester were rampaged. In this case, the rioters used social networking sites like Facebook and the instant messenger of Blackberry to stay in touch and ensure that maximum damage was caused by their actions. The result was a huge loss to the property in the cities and also physical violence and it also caused the deaths of three young men in the cities. Therefore, such events clearly showed that the Internet sites that appear to be harmless can also be used by some people for causing a devastating effect and as a result, thousands of people may have to suffer. Therefore, in order to protect the innocent citizens and also to maintain law and order, it is very important that the government has the ability to moderate the sites that can be used as a tool for such behavior and causing this type of destruction.

At present, all other forms of media is regulated by the State as such media can be used malvolently. The result is that books and newspapers face censorship. Similarly in case of media like film and television, there is a high degree of regulation. The reason is that it is widely believed that moving pictures and sound can be more powerful as compared to text and photographs. On the other hand, Internet allows its users, different means of portraying their opinions and information which includes video clips and sound. Similarly, nearly all the information that is provided by newspapers and television is also available on the Internet along with a large number of uploads by the Internet users themselves. In this way, it is important to regulate this powerful tool.

Points against moderation of social media
It can be said that in a number of ways, social media has made us more social. It allows us to stay in touch with family and friends. At the same time, it does not prevent us from going out and meeting other people. In fact, social media helps us in remembering more persons than we could do earlier. An outright ban on social media will not be able to deal with the problems associated with it but will only know these problems. For example, there is the case of prejudicial and derogatory speech. In order to deal with this menace, the government should discuss this problem at a public forum and also reasonably revealed the flaws and ignorance associated with it, instead of engaging in desperate efforts to hide the problem from public view. Such steps will also make the people who are the targets of such attacks on these websites, feel more safe as they will believe that the government is taking active steps to protect them as well as the rights. At the same time, such steps will also show that the government is punishing the persons who have violated the rights of other people on these websites. In this way, instead of closing only a few websites and allowing the authors of such websites to continue their activities in other ways, positive steps need to be taken so that the problem of prejudice can be dealt with effectively.

Keeping in mind the large number of people who actually use the social networking sites, the violent incidents in which did social networking sites have been used, is significantly small. At the same time, it also needs to be noted that such incidents cannot be attributed to these social networking sites. Such incidents took place due to the mindset of the rioters instead of the social networking sites themselves. On the other hand, if the social networking sites are moderated or any kind of censorship is imposed on such sites, the rioters will look for other methods to coordinate their actions. For example they can use the mobile phones for this purpose. In this way, censoring the social networking sites is not a good idea. Such censorship or moderation will not prevent these events but at the same time, it will cause problems for the people who use these sites for communicating with their friends and sharing information innocently.

The information provided by the newspapers and television is already regulated therefore it is not a problem if the same information appears on the Internet also. Due to the reason that people believe that Internet provides a forum for free expression and information, a large number of people are associated with it. Removing this freedom will amount to a dictatorial move directly against innocent citizens who are looking for information without any type of undo censorship or bias.