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The Internet did not really exist 20 years ago and it is now so heavily meshed into our culture that many people cannot imagine life without the World Wide Web. We use the Internet for everything, including communication, information, and entertainment. It is now possible to never leave the house by using the Internet for work, household tasks, and play. Everything can be found, ordered, and delivered to your home. Despite the popularity and widespread use of the Internet, it is still a constantly debated topic in terms of content. Amidst the wonderful information is a lot of junk, and people are unsure about how to deal with the questionable material. Here are some reasons that morality on the Internet is such a large challenge.

WHAT IS THE INTERNET?

One difficulty is defining the Internet itself. Since it is a collection of companies and individuals, it is difficult to know what types of laws, restrictions, and moral codes to provide. If an individual wants to host their own site on a server in their house, are they subject to the same expectations of a large corporation? As it is, there are different laws from individuals and companies.

HOW DO WE DEFINE MORALITY?

Another difficulty with the Internet is defining a standard of morality. There is a very broad spectrum of behavior when it comes to describing morality. As it is, we don't have definitive moral codes in our country so why would we assume that we could have one for the Internet? Someone could probably come up with some sort of moral philosophy for the Internet, but chances are it would be too vague and general to be applied with any practicality.

WHO IS GOING TO ENFORCE MORALITY?

A major problem with the Internet is policing the content. It is one thing to walk into a company headquarters and regulate their corporate website. It is quite another challenge to track an individual who could host their site in a variety of places. This also brings up the fact that the Internet is international, which means that content could be posted all over the world, and the server could be in a completely different country than the individual.

Overall, morality on the Internet is an interesting philosophical discussion, but practical application and moral constraints may be difficult to attain. Because the Internet is still evolving, it may be up to the users themselves to police their individual areas rather than waiting for an over-arching authority to legislate the content.

Learn more about this author, Todd Pheifer.
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