The Internet is great for a lot of things — e-mail, research, porn, term papers — but it seems that cyber-space is becoming a place for “evil-doing” more than ever.
The concern sprang up in the past week over how such a wide spread group of terrorists could communicate so closely and effectively to maneuver Tuesday’s attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. Maybe Osama bin Laden is just a really good pen pal, but it’s obvious that the Internet played a major role in being able to propagate mass terror.
But this isn’t the only case of electronically spread hate and violence, and while it may not be right or even possible, it’s clear that something must be done to curb the use of computers for killing.
According to the Associated Press, gang members across the country are utilizing the Internet to recruit members and discuss crimes. So apparently, joining the life of drive-bys is only a click away!
Police monitor some of the Web sites, which number in the tens of thousands, but apparently they haven’t found any information that would lead to significant criminal charges. So either the Crips are sharing recipes now or someone’s not doing their job. We find it hard to believe that out of thousands of sites, which children have complete accessibility to, there aren’t any direct threats to someone’s life or property that couldn’t be taken seriously by police.
In a more subtle campaign to spread stupidity, the Ku Klux Klan is probably the most “cyber-friendly.” We were shocked to learn that the KKK could even read and write let alone construct Web pages. But they do indeed have countless sites devoted to spreading their “mission” (which incredibly includes more than just getting people to wear silly looking pointy hats).
Perhaps the most inexcusable and downright disgusting example comes from the Web site titled “Just For Kids” (www.kukluxklan.just_for_kids.htm). That’s right. Complete with cartoons and condescending propaganda like “KKK all the way!” the KKK is blatantly trying to recruit children into racism through use of bright colors and upbeat songs (click on the link “Bet You Didn’t Know” for an uplifting little ditty and a fun KKK Q & A session!)
Again, there are local police departments monitoring some of the sites, but because they’re so numerous and because there are such fine lines between privacy and security, these pages are left virtually ignored by anyone who could do something about it.
Even more disturbing than a few ignorant bigots in moo-moos is the threat of terrorism through the Internet itself. A computer and a connection to the Internet are all that is really needed to wreak havoc. Incidents of hacking into major government Web sites or threatening large corporations like banks has become more and more prevalent, and yet it seems that nothing is being done about it.
Former President Bill Clinton created the Commission of Critical Infrastructure Protection in 1996 as a first step, and the CIA and FBI and Air Force have all created similar organizations, but the potential danger still lingers.
We tried to contact the inventor of the Internet to find out what his original intent for the medium was, but unfortunately Al Gore wasn’t available for comment.
We’ll just have to assume for now that it wasn’t meant for all the atrocious acts of violence and communication that we’ve witnessed lately. We know it’s not possible to shut down the Internet completely, but we’d at least be willing to write our own term papers if some of the evil was eradicated.
