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The Internet and Accountability

Sep 19

Attempted Intellect 2 Comments

It seems that despite the increased popularity of the internet in our daily lives, that the number of internet idiots has not decreased. In fact, I seem to hear of MORE people who refuse to be held accountable for anything they’ve said or done on the internet.

It is not uncommon to hear about bosses looking up an employee on the internet or on facebook. In fact, I’ve done it before for my bosses when we were hiring people. Although in our case, we were more curious as to what the candidates looked like – finding out that one applicant loved “tittays” was a bonus.

In recent news, five prison officers are fighting for their right to be able to speak their mind. What sparked this off? They were were threatened with the sack for making disparaging comments against their boss on Facebook.

This story piqued my interest because I know that I very often mouth off on my blog. But here’s the thing. I don’t complain or whine when people pull me up on it. I accept that what I write can be used against me – it sucks but I accept it.

I accept that as much as I have the right to say what I wish, I have to defend and stand behind what I say or if I feel is necessary, admit I was wrong.

How is that different from real life, really?

Would you call your boss an idiot if he was within earshot? Would you write to a newspaper to complain about management?

People seem to have gotten so used to the fact that they can log on anonymously (although ISPs can still link IP addresses with individual users) and make any comment they like about anyone to the point that they extend this privilege to situations when they are clearly identifying themselves.

And to argue about the fact that they’re fighting for “privacy” on the internet is laughable. Do you post your address on the internet? No. Why? Because psycho types can then hunt you down. Duh.

Similarly, when you’re making online purchases, even though you are doing it over a “secure connection” there is a very real risk of it being hacked into and your credit card details stolen. Thankfully, that has yet to happen to me but it doesn’t mean it never will.

Yet people are still up in arms about privacy on the internet. Including Rosemary Port, who is suing google for revealing her identity.

Another idiot, in my opinion. What doesn’t seem to be reported is the fact that Rosemary Port was using BLOGGER which is a Google subsidiary. Thus, they are not breaking any privacy policy because Miss Port AGREED to their terms of agreement – which clearly states the circumstances in which they will divulge her communications and personal information. So it’s not like Google is hunting down every Tom, Dick or Harry for fun and games. As a company, they are legally bound to upholding not just their contracts with their users but are obliged to obey state/national/federal/international law.

I look at these two articles and wonder. Have people forgotten about the concept of slander/libel? Your comments will put the other person’s reputation on the line – regardless of whether it is justified or not. Can you blame them for wanting to take action against you?

I honestly hope that that privacy law does not pass because I believe that it will open the floodgates to futher abuse of the internet. There are enough flamers and trolls around out there – we don’t need anymore.

What we do need to do is to cull the occurrence of net stupidity. People need to be made aware not just about the dangers of the internet but of the possible repercussions of their online interactions.

It’s easy to forget – I know I have on some occasions. And I already know about the very public nature of the internet.

But you can’t forget something that you haven’t been taught or made aware of, can you?