Should the government ban sites like Urban Dictionary?

[GirlNextDoor15]

Hi.

Recently, China appears to have blocked access to the popular search engine, Google and other 500,000 sites. In addition to that, the country I am living in (Malaysia) also banned 7 file-sharing websites. This may cause a lot of problems to regular users of those banned sites. But, those websites may also have a lot of disadvantages to the countries mentioned.

However, some websites also have huge impact on children and other people from all walks of life. For example, Urban Dictionary is a Web-based dictionary of slang words and phrases. Just in case if you don't know what is Urban Dictionary, this link will be useful.

May contain inappropriate language. Not suitable for children under 15!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/


I think all of you understand what are slang words and phrases. Some of them may be very harsh and violent. So, that is why it is not suitable for children. Nonetheless, children are loyal users of the Internet. They might come across websites like that and out of curiosity, logged on to those inappropriate websites. Bear in mind that it is not banned in certain countries.

Other examples also include porn sites.

Therefore, the debate is about whether or not should the government ban such websites in order to prevent any misuse of the Internet.

There are many pros and cons to this debate. I am not going to list it out as you have your own opinions and stands.

Let the debate begin! :D

[Recursion]

Parents should be the ones parenting their children, not the government, aside from that as soon as you begin censoring the internet in one form or another, you're well on your way to losing freedom of speech.

[Jordy]

No offence but I'd say your somewhat brainwashed by your own governments propaganda if you think there's "pros" in this argument. There's nothing to be achieved from the government blocking websites which is essentially censorship and a complete lack of freedom of speech.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The government should have no place on the internet or concerning freedom of speech/expression.

When I say I believe in freedom of speech, I mean it - unlike some who pretend they do.

When I say no government involvement on the internet, I mean it.

[Shar]

Not really, let us hold onto the limited amount of freedom of speech that we have.

[Manhattan]

Hello,

It appears people have a very skewed idea of the internet. Most people do not know that there is a distinction, a line or a barrier. On one side there is the surface internet, and on the other there is the deep web. I quote from wiki:


in the year 2000, speculate that the deep Web consists of about 91,000 terabytes. By contrast, the surface Web (which is easily reached by search engines) is about 167 terabytesWith this in mind, you can begin to understand what sort of situation we're in. Sites like Urbandictionary, 4chan and any underground but popular niche boards play a VERY insignificant and little part to the sort of atroscities that can be found on the internet. Believe it or not, the Deep Web is essentially a safer channel for extremist groups (Don't think muslim when you hear the word extremist - it can mean political extremism, ideological extremism or theological extremism.) to discuss, share ideas, information technology being videos and photographs.

In my opinion, I have watched the internet change, and the best method of documenting it was infact Habbo. I remember when it was simply a scripters paradise, it was open to encryption and packet sniffing, keylogging and trojans were rife and the atmosphere was always fun, regardless of the possibilities of getting your account comprimised. Nowadays, the surface internet is a much safer place, I do not use any sort of anti-virus anymore since I know that my computer is unlikely to be comprised, and if it is it will be some sort of local network attack.

However, the most important parts of the net, are the parts you do not see. Now that trojans, keyloggers and what have it do not play such a big part of the general hacking and scripting scene, the best hackers are forced to go completely underground, likewise the most offensive, disturbing and morally incorrect pieces of information are still rife, more than before, it's clear that it is now well hidden but at the same time easily accessible to those whom desire it.

The internet should be left as is, it's the most effective global face for man-kind. The truth is, like in reality, the biggest criminals or offensive information that curses society or the internet is the things that you and I will never witness. Likewise, the biggest problems you are likely to face in your life is not something you fear the most, but something that clutches you from out of nowhere on some idle sunday afternoon.

Am I the only person to find it odd, how the internet was percieved to be one of the biggest technological advancements of our time on this planet, and all it's really done is revealed how primitive, insensitive and hateful we truly are?

[Oleh]

Once the government starts censoring websites like urbandictionary and sickipedia then who knows where we will head, Heck, the government could block websites based their beliefs..

[Conservative,]

Sites that are illegal - such as child porn sites - I think should be automatically blocked. However, other than that, it's ridiculous to believe that anything should be blocked.

We CHOOSE to go on websites. If a 10 year old is going on porn, it's not the Governments fault, it's the parents. They should use parental controls etc. if they don't want them accessing those kinds of sites.
Once the Government starts regulating what we see and what we don't, we no longer have free speech, and as others have said, that then allows them to block more and more.

So my view - unless it's illegal, then no, you've clearly been heavily influenced by your biased Government.

[Showder]

Sites like these are clearly not good and illegal to us teenagers or kids.
Porn sites , illegal downloading sites etc are meant to be block , for good. But in this situation where China has blocked Google , I think its too much. The government should close or block porn or illegal-downloading sites or softwares but not educational programs , such as Google. If a 10 year old kid like what Conservative said does go on porn sites , its the parents fault for being not too protective over their kids.
Lets have an example. An 11 year old girl logs on to the internet to surf and play games. One unfortunate website shows porn advertisement and out of curiousity , she clicks on the web. What she sees are ladies or men looking for good time. Most computers are on firewall or are on AVN. If the parents didn't block these webs by firewall or such and such , why should the kid play?
Most parents think that if a kid goes on a web , their safe because of their thinking and their brains. They do not know what danger it is to their kid being exposed to dangerous and bad sites.

Therefore , I must say that China government is too much - parents should look out for their kids. Maybe don't let them use the net unless for education purposes , with a watchful eye until 13 years old and - its illegal to surf the sites that are porn or downloading software or websites.

[Conservative,]

Yes ^^^ But I was saying CHILD porn. That's illegal full stop, I don't think there is a country that has it as legal. However regular pornography is legal at age 18, and thus should not be blocked - because it is legal. That's like saying you shouldn't be allowed to buy cigarettes from a corner shop - even though it's legal at 18 to buy, because people under 18 try/want to buy it, it's made impossible. Which is unfair on those of legal age who do want it.

The only things I think should be blocked are stuff that is completely illegal in a majority of countries - no age restrictions etc SUCH AS child pornography. Blocking optional/age restricted content is loss of rights. Im typing this quickly cos i gotta go so sorry for poor arguement construction.

[bootydrop]

I have never seen a website that has been blocked. I know that there are easily ways to child pornography via the internet. To say the internet has vast possibilities is an understatement. You can do anything on the internet, at least anything I have ever wanted to do. I could go and look up anything, from child porn to executions. There would never be a thought in my mind that urbandictionary would be blocked. Its very mild as compared to many other websites.

Now being from the USA, as opposed to the UK like most members are, along with many other countries, I do not know how are amount of freedom is compared around the world. This blocking of a website is much more than just a topic of a website. It is a topic of freedom. It all depends on where you live. I know that my country likes to boast the amount of freedom we have and then when you push that freedom, you somehow lose it. But the answer to your question will vary from region to region, it all depends on if you were raised to THINK it should be banned.

[cocaine]

nope. this is what parental controls on a web browser are for..

[Smits]

I'm just curious as to why, out of all the websites out there, you brought up urban dictionary? If anything, this is a great website, as it let's us find out what people mean when they say certain things. If a 10 year old is accessing this site, that's not our problem, it's the parents.

Parents are continually warned to monitor their childs internet use, and should do so to keep them safe. The government should have no control whatsoever in regards to what we can access. Obviously, things like child porn, should not be allowed, but they even then, they shouldn't be blocking such sites.

I'm a strong believer in self control, if you want to access illegal sites, you will, and for doing so should be punished (talking about child porn here). If a child wants to go on sickipedia, they may do, but it doesn't mean they will be brainwashed.

[Chippiewill]

The government should have no place on the internet or concerning freedom of speech/expression.
Just thought I'd point out we don't really have that much free speech at the moment anyway. At least not in the way Americans do.

The inter(national)net really shouldn't be regulated or controlled by any government, it should be self-regulated by e-vigilante groups (*cough* Anonymous *cough*)