internet–worship or censorship

The face of a renowned actress was morphed

with that of a nude model and plastered on the Net. The quirk of journalism forced it onto

the cover page of a widely-circulated periodical. Worse, members of a women liberation

organization paraded (with baskets full of rotten eggs) outside the starlet's bungalow

seeking redressal (no pun intended). Similarly, a web site displayed a Hindu Goddess nude,

causing furore with some right wing Hindu organizations, who wanted the web site blacked

out and demanded apologies from the creators for hurting their sentiments.

Flip side of the Net, some assuage

endearingly. Yet others argue vehemently and are thirsting for blood, truly reflecting the

dichotomy in life of our times. For some, a nice plaything has been devised-the Internet,

which is tearing apart the very moral fabric of our society. And, so they question, are we

ready for the Net in all its vicarious glory? Yet, the proponents cannot do without the

commercial advantages the Net offers, and for them, the Net is the thread to survival, the

universal lifeline of information and knowledge. The two, sadly, will never meet.

any panacea?



So, what's the solution? Come censorship, double-see and double-speak. The age-old,
time-tested recipe designed to keep the bad boys at bay, to protect dignity and decency,

and to prevent the world from going astray. Once accepted, the general theory of

censorship, would take over. Who, then, would be the censor? The Government, of course,

the know-all, the be-all, and the end-all in our lives. A white paper is tabled, panels

are constituted, debates raged, and rules are formulated. Several years later, we, the

netizens of the world, would be in the labyrinth of confusion.

Nobody wants that, I guess. What other

choice do we have? Some of us want to do commerce on the Net, some want to access

information, while others want to have just plain fun. And fun for them, unfortunately, is

gross for many. And for the victim (like in this case, the attractive actress), a

harrowing time indeed. The Net is unlike any other medium, any other communication channel

in the history of man, it is private, yet public, very impersonal, yet quite personal, it

is everywhere, accessible to one and all, it knows no barriers of age or sex, of race and

class. It is dynamic, young and full of energy. And, unlike traditional communication

systems, like the print media and TV, which have a strong character and a definite

direction where smut can be sold and bought by choice, thrash on the Net comes absolutely

free and in plenty. So, how do we leash these ugly and undesirable bytes of junk?

Quite frankly, we are all dancing like

bimbos in the dark. Although we are confronted with the same symptoms, the dispensations

are unique and traditional methods of regulation are not expected to yield the desired

result. Censorship is being tried in Singapore and China for different reasons, but

without much success. No regulator can possibly sift with scissors everything that has

been thrown up on the Net. The Net is a dynamic thing, changes happen real time, and

imposing censorship on the Net would be akin to driving a nail when it's pitch dark.

So, there goes any government's favorite

weapon out of the window. What options are we left with to pursue? Is there any option to

letting ourselves see the art in the farce. Or, can we strive to establish a self

discipline, a code of ethic, a self regulatory mechanism, and hope for the best?

N KANNAN



is a freelance technology writer.