The Internet is now used by people ranging from the youth to elderly to do research, go online shopping, enjoy the SNS and so on. While military affairs during the Cold War contributed to the development of the Internet, it is often argued that the SNS such as Twitter and Facebook plays an important role in political changes: “agency of peace” (Curran, 2012, p.36). For example, it is generally accepted that the SNS supported the movement of the Arab Spring in 2010. Needless to say, the evolution was not only a result of technical development but also political context at that time in Arabic countries.
There is a question we can consider: Can we then conclude optimistically that the Internet as a peace maker? Personally I do not agree with this view because of the reality we face today, such as a flood of pornography, racist comments, and spread of radical political information on the Internet. If that is the case, how can we resolve such a problem? Because of the strong power of the Internet from its birth, it is necessary to think future development of the Internet as long as a person has a connection with the Internet.
Reference
Curran, J., Fenton, N., and Freedman, D. (2012). Misunderstanding the Internet, London: Routledge.
Network Society and the Media 
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/germany-is-putting-an-end-to-hate-speech-on-the-internet/
Germany is attempting to reduce the amount of hate speech by introducing new laws to quickly remove comments that have been reported by other users. It is a difficult topic though because the internet is all about encouraging freedom of speech, and whilst removing hate speech may encourage ‘peace’ it turns it into just another controlled space.
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Thank you for giving me a valuable source. I totally agree with your opinion. Though it is often difficult to consider both freedom of speech and the censorship of the web at the same time, hate speech should be avoided from a viewpoint of respecting the human rights.
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I agree that the internet is not a peace-maker as it results in many problems such as divorce and bullying. However I don’t think the problems of the internet will ever be resolved as the problems are due to the people who are behaving in such way. As long as there are good and bad people there will always be problems on it.
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The Internet is not a peace-maker because it’s made my people and people are doing anything but trying to make peace. Although it’s a tool that builds up connections and updates you on the world, the rest can be violence and bad stuff. Shall we talk about sex and prostitution over the Internet?
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I also think the problems on the web will not be solved in the future but it is important to think how we can develop not a perfect internet but a ‘better’ internet for our future.
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Hello!
I must agree with your opinion that internet is definitely not a ‘peace maker’. At least nowadays. Some individuals use the internet as a shield and allow themselves to cross the line on many occasions (bullying, mean anonymous comments and many other horrible things). Unfortunately, because of the limitless needs that we have and the expansion of the easy accessibility to literally ANYTHING online, I do not see the future with less negativity. And yes, it is an incredible problem.
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As you mentioned above, the Internet could be used negatively and have enough power to change someone’s life. I found the TED talk: ‘The price of shame’ (http://www.ted.com/talks/monica_lewinsky_the_price_of_shame) given by Monica Lewinsky and I think this talk is relevant to your comment. If you have time, please have a look at this video.
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