Introduction
Currently, many people have access to the internet compared to the last three decades. However, in the last 10 years the use of internet media has grown and it has changed the way people communicate throughout the world. The development of internet media has eased the burden of communication and it has increased the number of people using the internet all over the world. However, these developments have also caused some challenges that many governments as well as the developers did not anticipate. This paper seeks to discuss some of the effects of internet media to prove that the government needs to enhance safety measure to protect its citizens.
Why the government should get involved
Cyber bullying includes threats of harm to victims, gossiping through posting of information that compromises the victim’s privacy, and hate massages. Such contents in the internet are defaming and intended to tarnish the victims ‘credibility among his or her peers. Pictures and embarrassing events of a victim can be put online for the public to see and this may cause him or her great harm.
The current technological advancement has brought some significant implications both positive and negative. Cyber Bullying is one of the major negative effects of the internet and its prevalence is drawing significant concerns among parents. Cyber bullying can be defined as the use of personal information or images on social network platforms with an intention to cause harm. This can be done through the internet, cell phones, videogame systems, or other available technologies. These platforms are used to send pictures or text information about a person with an intention to hurt and embarrass him or her. It is also considered to be any act of aggression through the above mentioned platforms.
Cyber Bullying involves actions that cause harassment to their victims. Such harassments can be caused through stalking, rumor spreading, and disclosure of personal information without the owner’s consent, defaming, belittling or mocking someone else. Stalking is an unwanted or obsessive attention towards an individual that causes them discomfort. This behavior involves physically following an individual and monitoring their actions at work, in school, and everywhere they go. Spreading rumors can be done through the social media and internet platforms. Tweeter, Faceboook, WhatsApp and other social platforms have been used to spread rumors before.
Cyber Bullying is more prevalent among young people who are the main users of the social network platforms. People who are involved in causing others pain through he use of the internet and mostly through the social media are known as Cyber bullies. The chief characteristic of Cyber Bullying is the underlying intention to cause harm or embarrasses other people. In the recent accounts of cyber bullying, there was a message that had gone viral on the internet that a famous Hollywood actor had died. The rumor spread and the internet was overflowing with messages of condolence to his supposedly bereaved family. Such messages in the internet are referred to as hoaxes. A number of similar hoaxes have been circulating on Faceboook tweeter and Instagram.
Cyber Bullying in the gaming platform happens in different ways. Most games pigeonhole women making them look like they are simply sexual objects. The role played by women in most games is sexually demeaning presenting them as less important. In car racing games, nude women are used to flag-off racing cars. In some fighting games, the price for winning a game is a naked woman and in some perverted version sexual favors are accorded to the winners. Research has shown that children who enjoy and are exposed to such kind of games are more prone to experiencing or perpetrating cyber bullying.
Software privacy and its effects on information security and data safety
Software privacy is an issue of concern in the current IT driven and globalized world. The entire world is using the IT platform to perform most of its functions as businesses’ data are stored in servers all over the world. The security of such data is very volatile in this day and age. In the current socially networked society, individuals’ privacy has been highly compromised. The ethical issues surrounding the development of IT and its effects on privacy and data security are numerous. First in the list with respect to privacy are the looming cases of cyber bullying.
Private information and classified government data have been leaked to the internet by ill-meaning individuals without authorization. This highly compromises the right of individuals’ to privacy. Data security refers to the extent to which individuals or group data is safe from unauthorized access. IT has brought along challenges with regard to the ethical issues that compromise individual or organizational privacy. Organizational privacy is vital in business. Exposure to data security threats can be very hazardous for an organization because it exposes the organization’s protocols to the competitors. Recently, America’s security data was illegally accessed by a former employee and released to the public through the internet.
This caused great panic within the American security agencies. It is vital for private information and data to be secure and to be made inaccessible to unauthorized personnel. The rising of illegal cases where information and data privacy has been infringed have led to a worldwide debate on just how safe private data can be. Malware is another aspect of data and information security that has caused panic around the world. Malwares are software created to cause harm to existing ones. Such programs are used to launch attacks on other systems with the intention to destroy the information or to create a loophole for illegal accesses.
Some malware programs create permanent damage on data and systems hence destroying them. Some malware programs are used to launch surveillance protocols to illegally monitor others. These are all illegal ethical issue ensuing as a result of the development and advancement of information technology.
Conclusion
This paper has critically examined the effects of internet on the existence of human beings with reference to cyber bullying and data safety. According to the paper, these are the main issues that are affecting people who use the internet and those who depend on it for their daily use. The paper has clearly discussed how cyber bullying affects college and school children as well as the impacts of data theft on the economy. The effects discussed in this paper are clear indications that some measures have to be taken to protect young children and the citizens from harmful effects of internet media. This paper suggests that the government is responsible for protecting its citizens and the internet should not be used to cause harm or infringe on other people’s right to privacy.