Should Internet be Free ?

Should internet be free?

This question is really dilemmatic. We firstly can trace back to the origin of internet itself to get better understanding about this topic. Today, approximately 30 percent of world population is internet user. The term internet emerged in 1974 and had its utopian dream to create a transformative technology for better world.

One of the basic aspects leading to this globalized world is technology. Transfer of information and the way people communicate is getting much easier. Internet has significant influence to the future of mankind. It brings a lot of temptation that can be seen as the threat to some aspects like cultural, economic and political. For political and cultural impact, internet can be seen as the source of power to communicate agenda and influence other. Internet is the new arena of struggle of soft power. The hegemony of westernization value and capitalism will affect people life. Collectivism society is replaced to western individualism society.

Internet also challenges traditional state sovereignty. There is interconnectivity among every single person across state boundary. This phenomenon creates new identity of virtual society that can express and cooperate without being represented of political system of traditional state process. Every person is the representative of his own self. It creates more bound and understanding because people are free to express their idea and share their common perception. The concern of world issue is not the monopoly of political elite. This is the spirit of cosmopolitanism. “More broadly, it presents a political-moral philosophy that posits people as citizens of the world rather than of a particular nation-state. In this regard, cosmopolitanism represents a spirited challenge to more traditional views that focus on age-old attachments of people to a place, customs, and culture. Cosmopolitan emphasis on social bonds rather than nation-states lays the foundation for its view of society ultimately evolving toward harmony and away from conflict” Benning (2007) Encyclopedia of Governance. The idea shares basic similarity with Barlovian Cyberspace. Barlovian Cyberspace declared the freedom in virtual world for anyone to express his believes without fear. Barlovian has optimism that they can result more fair and human than what today government has made.

In developed country internet is something luxury. Government is the agent of international capitalism. Through domestic policies they prolong the dependency of internet and absorb the profit. Internet is seen as industry rather than source of knowledge to develop their own citizen. They monopolize internet because internet as the source of intangible power that can be used to manipulate or educate. This rivalry will happen between government as legitimate institution and new virtual movement to liberate the access of internet accessibility As what Jari Peltola said”Cyberspace is not a free frontier but only a new battleground for both old traditional keepers of power and the new virtual rivals to command and conquer".

Reference

Benning, F Joseph (2007) Encyclopedia of Governance. California: SAGE Publications. Inc