Governance and the internet

The internet, and its benefits, are crystallised for us all to see. From easy access to educational tools, a simple and more effective social life, and the endless hours of enjoyment via TV etc, global citizens of differing classes, culture and ideology meet on the extravagant plains of the world wide web. Infinite in it's size and thus infinite in its possibilities, the evolution of the web in the 30 or so years since its inception has been staggering, evolving further than all nations states envisaged. The hallowed position that the internet now holds in all of our lives, accessed via mobile phones on the go or as an avenue to present ones opinion on a large range of subjects, it would be foolish not to think that society itself has evolved, or is simply beginning its evolution, in wake of this unparalleled and thus relatively unknown invention.

I came across a news article a few weeks ago, in which a young 15 year old girl had committed suicide after posting self-harm pictures on her blog via Tumblr. Despite the relevant forewarning that all was not right, the aforementioned pictures published on her account weeks before the suicide itself, no action was taken to censor the images under obscenity laws, or worse still no medical help given. In a recent interview, David Cameron insisted that more effort was needed on the part of these international .com corporations to govern their websites to ensure that they are safe to use for the younger and more easily moulded generations (http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/23/tallulah-internet-suicide-blogs).

A few days after the release of this article, another article pertaining to this subject of privacy and governance on the internet caught my eye. Tim Berners-Lee, one of the architects of the internet as we know it today, accepted the critique that the it was ungoverned and to a point, unsafe for some users. He called for a 'Magna Carta' of the internet, global in it reach, that set outs rule and regulations for the use of the internet be it by business, customer, or passive surfer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26540635). In terms of our event, the encouragement of thought on the digitalised future in a digital-free pace, this idea of a 'Magna Carta' could be used as an element to gather discussion and physical evidence for our future reflective essays. If we were to provide a large piece of paper/Cardboard, label it appropriately as a prototype 'Magna Carta' and allow for visitors to our event and those that pass it afterwards to leave their thoughts as to which areas of concern need addressed, be it privacy etc, and also any ideas that they have for improvement, we would be increasing the range of people who could contribute and doing something incredibly topical at the same time.

I hope everyone's Detoxes were productive, and I'll see you all on Monday :).