The onset of this decade will be remembered for the increased unrest in most world nations especially in the Arab world. While a set of underlying issues such as poor governance and human rights violation account for the main causes of the unrests, the role of social networking sites in exacerbating the unrests cannot be undermined.
Though the social networking sites have innumerable benefits to the subscribers, they can also form powerful tools for destruction. It is thus self evident that employing proper control measures cam help in managing uprisings in these destabilized countries. Employing control measures, however, is likely to jeopardize people’s right to privacy. With such situations, issues of national security should be prioritized over privacy issues.
While social networking sites provides a platform for exchange of ideas that can lead to socioeconomic empowerment of the subscribers, they have an organizational capability that is exceptionally rare and can be put to destructive uses. These social sites provide an instant form of communication at times of unrest and can easily influence likeminded individuals to act towards committing barbaric acts.
These social sites are tools that can benefit man in various ways. However, as tools they can also be used for destructive purposes. Other than their organizational influence, these sites provide avenues for sharing of media files that can further incite people to commit acts of violence. Some of these media files can be simulated and may not reflect the real situation, but they do have an enormous appeal to the masses.
The social networking sites reportedly played crucial roles in almost all the riots witnessed in the recent past. Facebook, twitter, blogs and blackberry messenger services have been highlighted as some of the most popular social sites. The latter has been touted as largely responsible for the recently witnessed London riots.
With their massive influence, the most relevant question is how the damaging effects of these sites and other information communication technologies can be controlled. It is evident that any ill minded individual is capable of using these sites to cause devastating harm. All it takes to influence people in facebook is a status update or a post in a popular page. Greater control and surveillance of these sites and communication technologies will protect issues of national security to a large extent.
In this modern era, virtually all countries can boast of achieving basic rights of expression, speech and right to privacy. Most free speech campaigners have strongly opposed the moves to restrict the use of these digital communication pathways. With the negative effects of these sites undeniably clear, surveillance moves are much warranted (Knapp, 2011 p. 47).
While control measures such as screening of messages that people send or post may seem to be an infringement of people’s right to privacy, they ensure public safety. Issues of public safety and national security are issues that are core to democracies just like the inalienable right to privacy.
Instituting greater control measures will enable governments control the adverse effects of violence and widespread unrest. Control of digital communications is unlikely to surmount to increased conflict and tension. This is because a significant proportion of users put these social sites to positive uses. Such users will, thus, not feel much infringed when the contents of their posts are screened (Downes, 2009).
While it is difficult to strike a balance between the right to privacy and control of these sites for national interest, the importance of national security and public safety cannot be underscored. In any case, the social networking sites cannot wholly guarantee privacy to their subscribers (Floridi, 2010). Many times, hackers have been able to obtain people’s data through the social sites. For public safety, it is imperative that control measures be ensured.
Bibliography
Downes, L. 2009. The Laws of Disruption: Harnessing the New Forces that Govern Life and Business in the Digital Age. New York: Basic Books.
Floridi, L. 2010. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Knapp, E. D. 2011. Industrial Network Security: Securing Critical Infrastructure Networks for Smart Grid, SCADA, and Other Industrial Control Systems. New York: Elsevier.