Help me out BG!

[Pamelita]

So I'm writing a massive research paper on internet censorship, and for it I'm surveying people.

So the question is: Do you think the internet (or parts of it) should be censored?

I want to mudd the waters, so I'll give you some things to think about:

What do you think about your 10 yr. old son/daughter/brother/sister/cousin, reading BG?

What do you think about your 10 yr. old son/daughter/brother/sister/cousin, etc being picked on BG? Should we censor that?

Say people like the Columbine shooters posted their rants/plans on the internet and your 10 yr. old relative reads it? should that be censored?

Would you be as mean/explicit, etc as you are if you knew elementary-aged kids read BG?

Think about doing research for homework at your local library. How do you feel about censoring the internet there? At the work place? At home?

How would you feel if you started being censored?

How would you feel if your expressions on the internet were judged and dumped into a good or bad category?

I'm not posting my opinion... until at least 25 people vote. In addition to a tally of votes, I would like to be able to print out your responses, and to add an extra kick in there....(and this is totally optional) if you could include your age, gender, and wether there is someone in your family (or friend) circle (little brother, sister, son, daughter, etc) who may have influenced your decision, or if the fact that you don't interact with kids on a regular basis may have influenced your decision, feel free to say so. If you'd like, add anything regarding this issue.

Lastly, I'd like to request that you be brief, nice and not try to pick fights or derail the thread, at least for the first 25 responses. After that feel free to derail/fight/cry as much as you want.

Thank you so much for your help!!!

[Vail]

a child shouldn't be on the internet without there parent/guardian watching them to begin with. God damn parents need to start being around their kids more and we probably wouldn't have these kinda worries.

age 24, male, all my siblings and cousins are grown up and aren't prudes or foot-washing baptist

[Kerberoz]

Think about doing research for homework at your local library. How do you feel about censoring the internet there? At the work place? At home?

Libraries are public services and should not be censored. Private companies have every right to restrict employee access, and parent have every right to censor their children. Personally I think it's a bad idea on any but the youngest children, as they will find what they're looking for one way or another, but that's up to the parents to decide.

[thestalkmore]

Hi2u parents.

[Nuriko]

I think it's very situational. I don't think it's right for anyone of any age to be able to bring up 2girls1cup at a public library where chances are 99% of the people around them will be greatly offended. I agree it's a public service but it's a service with responsibilities. As a whole though, I think the Internet should not be censored and parents should be taking a more active role in such matters.

[Exoduso]

i think not. Not my fault if you're retarded enough to let your kid surf the internet freely.

[Korietsu]

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there. - Claire Booth Luce

[zoobernut]

What do you think about your 10 yr. old son/daughter/brother/sister/cousin, reading BG?

What do you think about your 10 yr. old son/daughter/brother/sister/cousin, etc being picked on BG? Should we censor that?

Say people like the Columbine shooters posted their rants/plans on the internet and your 10 yr. old relative reads it? should that be censored?

Would you be as mean/explicit, etc as you are if you knew elementary-aged kids read BG?

Think about doing research for homework at your local library. How do you feel about censoring the internet there? At the work place? At home?

I think the idea of censoring to save children or people who are sensitive is asinine it is a way for people to pass the responsibility from themselves as parents to others which is total BS if you don't to watch your kids and take care of them then don't have kids. There will always be bad stuff in the world that kids should not experience you cannot get rid of all of it. It is along the same line of people blaming TV and video games for their kids being violent, it doesn't mean the world should change to accommodate them being shitty parents.

As for internet censorship at work or at the library those are places that are controlled by an outside entity and they have the right to censor it however they want, you do not have to work there and you do not have to visit the library. If they start censoring the internet at my home I would be really pissed.

[Howard Roark]

maybe this is a stretch but being on the internet is like swimming

if you can't swim, you'll drown, so learn young

I don't know that I enjoy all the crazy stuff like burncat or goatse etc but I just don't go back to those sites. I don't know why people are so sensitive these days. I enjoy our modern desensitivization [sp?], as a white male 27, I enjoy poking at the foibles of every group, especially and including my own. Sure I get angry and offended at personal attacks but I enjoy the internet's irreverence and sarcasm.

[Korietsu]

maybe this is a stretch but being on the internet is like swimming

if you can't swim, you'll drown, so learn young

I don't know that I enjoy all the crazy stuff like burncat or goatse etc but I just don't go back to those sites. I don't know why people are so sensitive these days. I enjoy our modern desensitivization [sp?], as a white male 27, I enjoy poking at the foibles of every group, especially and including my own. Sure I get angry and offended at personal attacks but I enjoy the internet's irreverence and sarcasm.

Desensitization in general is a bad thing for society, as it leads to people going beyond normal levels of idiocy, but I digress, that's another topic entirely. However, I believe that media in general is in the eye of the beholder. For most circumstances, it needs to be censored only if those using it cannot be held accountable for what they view, which in most cases are children. This is where parents, or the legal guardian should exercise their best discretions as to the maturity of the child, and the content being delivered.

That said, I believe the internet should not be censored in the manner that no one can access content that they might want, which could be potentially controversial. However, those delivering the content should be held accountable for some degree for publishing content that is a bad influence to those who cannot distinguish what content they're getting into. E.G. Adding in an agreement page as seen with most porn sites, or giving parents tools like the VChip in a computerized version that's user friendly.

[Mizango]

i think not. Not my fault if you're retarded enough to let your kid surf the internet freely.

You see, that is exactly what I'm thinking. Unfortunately in these times it is all too easy to pawn off the lack of parental guidance and skill on Music, games and the Internet.

[quannum]

What do you think about your 10 yr. old son/daughter/brother/sister/cousin ...

never too young to be introduced to harsh reality.

I believe it was Patrick Henry in 1776 who said "give me uncensored internet, or give me death" or something like that.

[Exoduso]

i think not. Not my fault if you're retarded enough to let your kid surf the internet freely.

You see, that is exactly what I'm thinking. Unfortunately in these times it is all too easy to pawn off the lack of parental guidance and skill on Music, games and the Internet.

Still the parents' fault... don't give em internet access for all I care, they're kids. And if you do, don't bitch and moan about it because it's your fault.

Yay!

[Maguspk]

With how easily accessible the internet is and how we so easily just rely on kids being able to navigate it on their own I think there should be extra precautions in place that obviously innappropriate websites should have to adhere to, like a page that forces you to confirm your age and maybe an automatic script that blocked the page if the user was set to a certain kind of account, like a child account; not just click "Enter" and hide the "No, thanks" option.

I see no reason to think "OMFG don't add precautions to websites." it isn't hurting you besides making you click something or set your account for browsing on the interweb with to full access or whatever. It will only ease the way in which we can make sure kids aren't seeing things we don't want them to see because let's face it, no parent can sit over their kids shoulder everytime they have access to a computer with how widespread it is.

[Exoduso]

Age limit thing is the dumbest thing on the internet since even a 5 year old knows he can just plug in 1960 or some shit and it'll work.

[Shuemue]

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there. - Claire Booth Luce

I like that, sums up my position pretty well.

[Olo401]

Except in the case of parents or a public entity* keeping children from visiting adult content websites, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The internet is the 21st century version of the printing press. It allows anyone with access to it the ability to not only limitless informational resources, but also limitless ability to put their own ideas into an open, reasoned forum. Censoring information, or even raising the bar of access to prevent those with limited financial resources from participating in such a forum, is a detriment to participatory democracy.

* - I mention public entities because institutions such as libraries and schools, which provide free access to the internet, have an obligation to members of its community to show the same judgment that a parent would in regards to that community's children.

[Correction]

Is this a serious research paper? If it is, you might want to create a better survey than some silly forum poll on a board that spirals ever downward towards 4chan levels of unrestrained numbskullery.

Especially if you're trying to prove something about the correlation between one's involvement with online communities and the 'do not censor the internet' side of things. BG boards is just entirely too biased. I don't even think the Dubai posters would want a censored internet (as much as it already is over there).

[Isiolia]

I wouldn't say "censored" per se.

I would call it more "classification". The internet now is like walking into a room of manila folders. Some of them labeled appropriately, others not, and others not at all.

A ratings system for web sites, put together with perhaps better tags for the content, could have potential. It could allow for elective filtering of content, such as by parents or libraries, and also possibly better indexing of what's out there.

While it wouldn't censorship per se, I do think this would possibly encourage people to pay a little more attention to what they put online. So, for example, with BG. Say having the NSFW images on the main forum would make it an 18+ site. Okay, fine, no change if you're not filtering. But then say businesses set their filters to commercial/all ages sites only. Now you have a choice, you can either post what you feel like and have a limited audience, or a wider audience with restrictions to content.
Really that's the same compromise that most other media outlets deal with.

[Plow]

This really just begs the question, is it not?


For example the crap with the CP at wiki.bg, it's disallowed not only because people don't approve of it (that would banish a whole lot of things), but because there is actual punishment for it.


Which of course brings the argument of where free speech ends, and what expression is defensible, and who gets to decide all this.