Connected and gagged

The internet was designed to change the way the military gathered intelligence, by linking together radar systems. Instead, it has changed the way we speak. Blogging has created new possibilities for dissent and democracy. Social networking allows us to debate ideas as rapidly as we can create them. And the explosion of user-generated content gives everyone with online access the chance to express themselves to the world. Politically, philosophically and psychologically, the internet has created a world of new freedoms. There seem to be no frontiers to its growth and its potential to change humanity. However, governments and corporations have been in on the act since the beginning. China is not alone in its desire and ability to monitor online traffic. Iran8217;s attempts at cyber-snooping are enthusiastically supported by European corporations. Every word we type online can be read, and its source can be traced. Freedom of speech is only one keystroke away from censorship.

Is the online utopia all it was cracked up to be? For a start, the internet is simply not free for all. Simply getting online is affordable for some but prohibitively expensive for most of the world8217;s people. How can we continue to preach about freedom, when billions do not have access to a computer? And maybe we all want a little censorship, when vast swathes of the internet are consumed with images of extreme pornography and child abuse, or used by terrorists to plan our collective downfall.

From a comment by Jonathan Heawood in 8216;The Guardian8217;