Should the Government Regulate the Internet? by Paul Ingiona Adie

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Paul Ingiona Adie|9 November 2017
The internet has been described in a plethora of literature as information superhighway, melting pot of ideas and the eight continent. Its impact surpasses just information search, documentation and retrieval, it has also enabled communication of data, voice and video in real time, it has enhanced e-commerce as individuals seamlessly buy and sell over the internet irrespective of geo-spatial locale, e-learning has been nurtured specifically by computer mediated communication and open massive online courses that have been used to bridge both the digital, literacy and numeracy gaps pursuant to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals especially by the eradication of extreme hunger and poverty by being an income earning opportunity for individuals who key into legal internet based revenue activities, achievement of universal education through massive open online courses (MOOCs), promotion of gender equality and women empowerment by granting women a chance in information technology human capital development opportunities, enhancement of environmental sustainability by providing real time data via GPS based geo-informatics intelligence systems and the pursuit of global partnership for development by using the  internet to facilitate cultural exchanges and to announce grants, competitions and opportunities for people of all the world irrespective of their socio-economic, geo-spatial or digital disadvantages.
The western economies can benefit immensely from the internet by the following means: crowdsourcing of solutions for their socio-economic challenges from around the world, packet capturing of citizens’ broadband internet and internet telephony by the law enforcement and intelligence agencies, telecommuting opportunities for their unemployed population, crowdfunding for commercially viable startups, philanthropy, internet activism initiatives, social networking and entertainment, education especially distant learning system, ecommerce innovations, financial transactions etc   
Internet regulation according to the internet society is basically the restricting or controlling of access to certain aspects of information. 
Internet regulation consists of: censorship of data and controlling aspects of the internet such as: domain registeration, IP address control and more. The internet society works to ensure three key aspects of the internet be retained regardless of how the net works and its underlying protocols evolve: permissionless innovation, open access and collaboration. The idea that anyone can innovate on the internet is a fundamental and important aspect of the internet experience we need to preserve. The internet society tackles the following issues: access, children and internet, Domain Name System, Domain Name System Security Extensions, Encryption, Human Rights, Innovation, Networks and trust, open internet standards, online identity, intellectual property, internet exchange points, internet of things, internet regulation, internet governance, internet security via resilience and stability, internet protocol addressing, IPv6, Net Neutrality, Privacy and identity, Routing security, Spam Standardisation. 
Three theories of communication will help us to understand the media regulation schools of thought and their tenets. This is important as it affects seriously the regulation of the internet by the government x-raying the intent of such an act and whether it negates the universal human rights, encourages free speech, enhances collaboration and open innovation or suppresses the truth. These theories include: Soviet media theory, Libertarian theory and Authoritarian theory.
   
Soviet media theory is imitative of Leninist principles which is based on the Karl Marx and Engel’s ideology. The government undertakes or controls the total media and communication to serve working classes and their interest.  Theory says the state has absolute power to control any media for the benefits of people. They put end to the private ownership of the press and other media. The government media provides positive thoughts to create a strong socialized society as well as providing information, education, entertainment, motivation and mobilization. The theory describes the whole purpose of the mass media is to educate the greater masses of working class or workers. Here, the public was encouraged to give feedback which would able to create interests towards the media.
Libertarian theory sees people are more enough to find and judge good ideas from bad. The theory says people are rational and their rational thoughts lead them to find out what is good and bad. The press should not restrict anything even a negative content may give knowledge and can make better decision whilst worst situation. The libertarian thoughts are exactly against or opposite to the authoritarian theory which means the authoritarian theory says “all forms of communication works under the control of government or elite like king”. Wiki leaks website published all sorts of confidential or restricted files in public space and especially classified documents. These articles are providing brief knowledge about the government and its activities which helps people to identify what is happening in the society and its gives great choices to elect a better president in future. Sometimes these documents may work against the government and its authority that is why most countries are not willing to allow libertarian thoughts because it may affect their power and kingdom.
Authoritarian theory describes that all forms of communications are under the control of the governing elite or authorities or influential bureaucrats. Authoritarians are necessary to control the media to protect and prevent the people from the “national threats” through any form of communication (information or news). The press is an instrument to enhance the ruler’s power in the country rather than any threats. The authorities have all rights to permit any media and control it by providing license to the media and make certain censorship. If any media violates the government policies against license, then the authority has all right to cancel the license and revoke it. 
The government has all right to restrict any sensitive issues from press to maintain “peace and security” in the nation. Censorship is a suppression of any communication which may consider as harmful to the ruler or government. Especially these censorship methods are much familiar in press which against the freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Thus the censorship helps to protect the rulers and authorities from sensitive issues. There are different types of censors like: Political censor, Moral censor, Religious censor, Military censor, Corporate censor. Examples of Authoritarian theory: Here, bloggers or any media person should not have any rights to comment, discriminate or stand against the government. Sometimes, an authority gives considerable freedom to minority thoughts and cultural issues to promote them if it doesn’t make any threats to authority or ruler. Dictatorship – During the world war II Hitler and Mussolini are the two major authorities who controlled the press in Germany and Italy. Press was under the control of the authority and no press can question or publish against these two dictators. Few countries blocked Wiki leaks website from their territory to maintain the “internal security” because wiki leaks is not ready to compromise with government censorship and releasing classified documents against the government.
Some governments such as those of Burma, Iran, North Korea, the Mainland China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates restrict access to content on the internet within their territories, especially to political and religious content, with domain name and keyword filters. In Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, major internet service providers have voluntarily agreed to restrict access to sites listed by authorities. While this list of forbidden resources is supposed to contain only known child pornography sites, the content of the list is secret. Many countries including the United States, have enacted laws against the possession or distribution of certain materials; such as child pornography via the net but do not mandate filter software.
Government should not interfere in internet regulation even though they are stakeholders in the internet society. Their job should be a strict adherence to the internet society policy thus government will be implementing this universally laid down policy by ensuring the prosecution of internet offenders and an enhancement of the regulatory activities of the internet society within their territories as we have seen how autocratic governments in the guise of regulating the internet use their powers to suppress truth, information, human rights, collaboration which are antithetical to common sense, the policy of the United Nations and the Internet society.
The internet has created a lot of new industries around the world like technology startup firms that are internet based like Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn etc with their multi-dimensional impact on employment, revenue generation, expression of thought, collaboration etc. It has also made e-learning, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, internet activism etc to be possible and be available within the reach of any interested netizen, internaut, or digital citizen. Outsourcing of jobs is another huge benefit the internet has created as millions of unemployed persons have gotten jobs. Data transfer through internet based telecommunication has been unprecedented in the history of man, real time text, video, or voice communication has been made so easy irrespective of the location of the parties involved. 
In as much as the internet has ensured some positive developmental opportunities for today’s man it has also been used to foster some negative and retrogressive activities such as: cyberterrorism, cyberbullying, cybercrime, paedophile sexual predation, cyberslacking which can become a drain on corporate resources just to mention a few. However the good things the internet has brought to today's man are far much more than its negativities although practical awareness of the e-tools made possible by the internet and how to use to them to one’s advantage is paramount to a beneficial deployment of such resources for optimal realisation of one’s needs.
Paul Ingiona Adie
Is a Social Commentator