Kimberly C.

Milante BSA IA

Regulating the internet is now a hot issue in the modern era. And when we talk
about regulation, the first thing to pop in our mind is the government. The government
will regulate the internet. I would disagree on that. The internet should not be regulated
and the government should stay out of it. If the government will control and take hold of
the internet, the citizens will be deprived of the right to information and freedom. Here
are some reasons why the government should not regulate the internet.

First are the journalists. The internet became the avenue of free writing for
unbiased journalists. They are now given the chance to write articles and express their
thoughts on issues that are not shown on TVs and radios. Using the internet, they can
haul the most controversial issues of the world and open up cases that are not rightly
verdict. One example to this is the case of Paco Laranaga known as the “case of the
century” here in the Philippines. If the government regulates the internet, we are being
blindfolded and we will not be able to see the flaws of the justice system and the
connection of the government officials to the drug lords in the Philippines. The
government will filter articles and only show people what they want to. The citizens will
be deprived of the right to correct information and freedom to express their opinion in
the virtual world.

Second are the entrepreneurs. The virtual money is now on trend to successful
countries. People invest on the mining in the internet instead on stocks and bonds. They
say that the virtual money is the future of physical money. If the government will
regulate the internet, the chances for business minded people be delimited. Surely, the
government will cut this off because they have no hold on this kind of venture. They
cannot easily apply taxes. The opportunity for entrepreneurs to gain physical money
after converting the virtual money will be lesser.

Third is the citizen’s privacy. The right to privacy will be violated once the
government regulates the internet. The government will have access to our personal
lives and as if there are surveillance cameras everywhere 24/7.
 Fourth is the education in the internet. Though there are dark corners in the
internet, let us also consider on how this corners change the perspective of the users
and be more open minded to issues presented. Through the internet, the fallacies we
believe about our culture and who we are changed because of the open access to
information. If the government regulates the internet, the access to boundless
knowledge will not be present anymore.

Fifth is the saying “the more you put a grip into something, the more it will find a
way to make it loose”. If the government ought to restrict and regulate the internet, the
people will find ways to outsmart them. This will soon rise to activities against the
government that will cause outrages and quarrels between the government and the
people.

Lastly are the hackers. The government should know that they can always
access the inaccessible files. They can override the data bases and systems.
Regulation while just make the hackers be more determined.

To sum it up, the internet should not be regulated because it will deprive the
people for correct and boundless information, the opportunity for entrepreneurs is
lesser, it will violate the right to privacy, and the number of criminals may rise. The
government should invest their time and effort to making the economy grow with the aid
of internet not by regulating the internet.