Blog 5: Public Online Knowledge
There are numerous formats, authors, purposes, and opportunity when it comes to sharing information online. The information can be displayed multimodally from an individual or though collaboration, and is open for the world to see when it is unleashed on to the internet. Anyone should have access to information on the internet and there are not very many boundaries when trying to find something on the web, meaning you can probably find whatever you want to see through internet searching. Some important information may be heavily censored in other places like China, Russia, or North Korea, and I believe it is inherently wrong for government to deprive any person of public knowledge. There are some things that should be kept private or “censored” per se, but there is good reason for that which will be discussed. One should also be cautious when browsing information online especially if it is unverified or a direct threat to a person or group.
Online collaboration has proved to be productive in producing mass amounts of free information instantly accessible to billions of people. From factual information within scientific databases, to someone’s opinion on a blog post, to a Wikipedia article edited by hundreds of thousands of people, it is all useful information resulting from the art of online writing.
There are several different forms of information on the internet, as well as both credible and not credible information. There are writings, videos, and audio available on a variety of different platforms. Whether it’s used for informational purposes like Wikipedia or peer reviewed articles or used for more opinionated sources like from CNN or YouTube, there is a general consensus on what is deemed more or less reliable. Most can agree that peer reviewed articles, studies, some online Wikis, and videos with full context are reliable and are mainly found on researching databases or trustworthy websites. Most can also agree that misinformation or opinions are more prevalent on “news” sources, Twitter, or on other social media platforms where clips are displayed out of context. Should people be banned on Social Media for spreading their opinion, beliefs, or what others perceive to be misinformation? I believe no one should be censored or banned in that aspect and the first amendment should be applied to big tech and social media. It is important for everyone to have a voice. Even if someone is trying to proclaim something false to be true, if what they are saying is actually false, then the truth will eventually surface and make them appear as not credible to everyone else. The solution for people spreading “misinformation” on social media is not to censor them, because it will then just become an echo chamber and people might even view them as more interesting or credible because the big corporations made them suspiciously disappear. Everyone should act as individuals and seek truthful information from more reliable sources. All view points must be heard. However, I do believe there are some exceptions where things should be censored. There should be censorship of vulgar language or images kept away from children until a certain age, censoring criminals to prevent notoriety which incentivizes crime, and censoring or removing any online sources of illegal pornography involving minors or anything similarly obscene, such as individuals intentionally torturing animals.
