The Internet: A Clear and Present Danger?

The list Catherine Cleaver’s displayed in the beginning of her article, I believe, violates our civil liberties. We all have the right to browse the internet, have conversations through the internet, and buy items off of shops on the internet. Although we have these rights, there are some things that should be illegal in computer transmissions. Cleaver discusses how a man named Bob Guccione displays nude pictures of young teens on the internet. What people view on the internet is their own business, however, these pictures are inappropriate. The nude pictures of young adults are also considered child pornography, which should be illegal on the internet.
While this particular internet problem should be illegal, there are some circumstances where we violate our own rights that can get us into trouble. An example that Cleaver mentions on her list is about a young man who develops a relationship with a 12 year old girl named Jenny, who is actually a pedophile. The young boy wanted to meet this girl in person and they both had a day set. Luckily, the young boy’s mother went to the place before the boy went to find out that Jenny was actually a forty year old man. It would be difficult to make internet chats illegal because it is hard to catch someone who is actually a pedophile pretending to be a young girl, or boy. For this particular incident, parents should discuss with their children to never meet someone on the internet and then agree to meet them in person because it may not be the person they thought they were and, most importantly, it is not safe.
All in all, this list is a good, effective way to start the article because it gives a brief preview on what she is going to discuss. Cleaver mentions good and bad points on internet scams that happen daily that should be illegal. While most of Cleaver’s point were valid and had good reason on why something should be illegal on the internet, such as child pornography, there were other points that are not as simple to just make the problem illegal, such as tracking down pedophiles. In order for police to track down pedophiles through the internet, they would have to pretend they were a child, which is just as wrong to pretend they’re somebody they’re actually not. Overall though, I think the list was a good introduction to Cleaver’s article.