Introduction
Social networks have become powerful tools in the lives of many people in third world countries. Social media sites are where people go to acquire knowledge and ideas from other individuals. People use them as platforms through which they communicate with their relatives and friends.
Social media sites are relatively cheap means of communication in third world countries. However, the question has been the extents to which one can exercise freedom via the sites. Freedom of social media sites is only possible in democratic countries.
Censorship of social media sites is the control of information that is available to users. In many cases, governments control the activities of social media sites. However, other people and institutions can also censor social media sites (Rangwala 2011, pp. 1).
This is paper discusses the censorship of social media sites in third world countries. It also determines reasons for the implementation of censorship policies in the third world countries.
Background
Social networks make it easy for people to obtain and distribute information rapidly. However, dictatorial regimes cannot tolerate the idea of free flow of information. Many dictatorial regimes are in third world countries. Such regimes have noted the impacts that social media sites have on human societies.
In Tunisia, the actions of a fruit vendor sparked protests in the entire country. The death of the vendor sparked protests in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Iran. The protests spread to other countries through information passed via social media sites (Diamond & Plattner 2012, pp.132).
Last year, Britain experienced civil unrest and protests. People posted images of riots in social network sites. Plans used in the execution of the riots were also passed through the sites. This made some politicians call for the shutdown of social media to limit the flow of information and awareness.
The communist party that rules China also views freedom of the sites as a threat to the authority (McMillan 2012, pp. 1). These show that developed countries also feel that social media sites should be censored.
Arguments
Arguments that oppose censorship of the social media are based on the belief that the sites are a platform through which individuals exercise their rights. Opponents of censorship argue that every person has a right to express himself freely (Telba 2010, pp. 1).
People should express their ideas, receive, and disseminate information freely. Moreover, social media is currently used in execution of business deals that are beneficial. Nonetheless, education on utilization of the sites is essential. Users must be educated on how to use the sites to avoid conflict with the dictatorial regimes.
Proponents of censorship of social network sites normally argue that it is necessary for maintenance of peace within a country. They have noted the impacts that the sites have on human actions (Hardy 2011, pp. 1).
Some regimes feel that social sites can be used to leak information that can lead to the imposition of sanctions. Usually, they provide political reasons for censorship of the sites. They propose that censorship is necessary to control activities of people who oppose the regime in power (Vij-Aurora 2011, pp. 1).
Other reasons for censorship are based on religious and social life issues. Governments may censor the sites to control religious activities of the citizens.
This is common in third world countries in Asia where Islam is practiced. For example, approximately 400,000 websites were censored in Saudi Arabia to control religious and women’s activities (Greengard 2010, pp. 17).
Hence, in third world countries, censorship is implemented to control activities of political and religious organizations. It is also implemented to suppress activities of minority and terrorist groups. Governments use various methods to censor the sites.
One method is the employment of spies who monitor posts that citizens make. The spies identify posts that are likely to undermine the authority of the government. Another type of censorship is the use of civil society to monitor social sites. This method was practiced in Tunisia.
The civil society in Tunisia monitored people who used technology to pass information in the country. Finally, the other type of censorship is media blackout. In this case, the interface of the social media website used by an individual does not appear (Hansen, Schneiderman & Smith 2011, pp. 6).
Hence, the individual cannot perform any activity via the site when there is a media blackout.
Nevertheless, the internet has various implications on censorship of social media sites. Advances in technology make it difficult for governments of third world countries to censor the sites.
Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to discuss censorship of social media sites in third world countries. It has determined the impact of social media and the arguments for and against censorship. Finally, it has noted three types of censorship employed by governments of third world countries.
List of References
Diamond, J. & Plattner, F. 2012, Liberation technology: social media and the struggle for democracy, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Greengard, S. 2010, “Censored!”, Communications of the ACM, vol. 53 no. 7, pp. 16-18.
Hansen, L., Schneiderman, B., & Smith, A. 2011. Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: insights from a connected world, Morgan Kaufmann, Burlington.
Hardy, M. 2011, Silencing social media: Censorship or maintaining order? Web.
McMillan, G. 2012, China censors social media, Internet to squelch Tiananmen Square anniversary. Web.
Rangwala, F. 2011, Should social networking websites be censored? Web.
Telba, E. 2010, Social networking websites: Between censorship and freedom. Web.
Vij-Aurora, B. 2011, Scissorhands Sibal: Is government’s attempt to censor social media justified? Web.