The tendency to block access to certain Internet websites by governments all over the world is getting more and more actual. Being motivated by concerns of morality and ethics, the governments deny access to the websites containing pornographic material, immoral hints, content related to gambling, or similar material. In addition, governments are now noticed to block varied websites that are reported as the infringers of copyrighting rights. Internet censorship exercised by governments all over the world becomes the reason for numerous protests against such measures. Thus, the issue is to be addressed from an authoritative and balanced point of view which will make it possible to develop a wise strategy in this area establishing a good balance between law and public values guarantees.
The first position concerning the issue is the position of governments and those who support it. Their point of view is based on the following arguments: the necessity to control political stability, protect moral standards, and suppress illegal practices. For example, there exist numerous cases when certain websites initiate such discussions and arguments within society which can be evaluated as threatening peace and stability within society. In such cases, all the possible measures are to be undertaken to restrict them so that the state might function properly. One more example, the government of the United States has its position to block social networks sites in schools and other educational establishments. This is motivated by the results of researches proving that the above-mentioned websites are considered to be strong destructors causing poor academic achievements among students. The other example sites contain illegal content such as pornography. The position of the government is very wise in this case, and there exist no adequate people who will take courage to argue against it. The idea behind it is that pornography is nothing more than the corruption of people’s minds affecting their psychical health. Another harmful practice that is forbidden by the government and can be found on the Internet is gambling. The government blocks access to such websites being motivated by psychological concerns that gambling causes addiction, and is often mentioned as the reason for family problems and other troubles.
The above-mentioned examples are usually accepted as unconditional cases of illegal practices which are to be forbidden or at least restricted by all means. However, there exists another group of websites causing a lot of resonance in society which is the websites with the content that can be addressed as online piracy. In this case, the amount of opponents is more than the one of supporters. The people who oppose restrictions in this direction often address the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States establishing the right of free speech. One of the most resonant cases, of such debates, has arisen not long ago, in December 2011. While hot polemics was taking place in Congress, the administration of Wikipedia banned access to the website to make people feel the consequences of possible new regulations concerning such websites. For weeks the Internet was full of statements reflecting burning anger and discontent of people who were not able to access the website which they consider to be so important and so convenient for their daily practices such as study and work. Many people still remember this day as the very sad one. Even those who usually prefer being calm and are reluctant to active polemics placed their protests on their web pages in the social networks including Facebook, Twitter, and Vkontakte.
It seems that the issue of Internet censorship by the government can be characterized as rather an ambiguous one. From one point of view, illegal practices are to be banned everywhere, and the Internet is not an exclusion, and from the other one, some cases (as the one with Wikipedia) can be very illogical, controversial, and bring much more harm than value. Thus, it is only wise to be balanced and establish a logical system of evaluating the websites which are reported to have illegal content, and not to forget about such important characteristics of theirs as their impact on society and whether they can be really addressed as breaking law.
In conclusion, nowadays the tendency to block access to certain websites on the Internet is an area of concern for many people. Generally, the intentions of the government can be described as formative and wise; however, in certain cases, it is difficult to agree with the position of the government. This can be stated concerning such websites as Wikipedia. Not long ago, when Congress was having a session of hot polemics concerning copyrighting rights, and the administration of the above-mentioned website has blocked access to it, it seemed that the world had stopped.