The Internet has for a considerable significant time been the acid test of ‘freedom of speech.’ But at what cost to many unsuspecting individuals? Frequently famous personalities are the objects of Internet video leaks that are quickly broadcast throughout the world through Internet services like YouTube, whose links are effortlessly promoted on social network profiles such as MySpace and Facebook. But just as often, celebrities are made by the broadcasting of private videos of everyday citizens, which are then electronically disseminated and blogged and thus transmitted like wildfire to the four corners of the world. The infamy which comes from lots of these videos or pictures being piped through so effortlessly can be devastating to the individuals who are victimized by their being spread. But who is to be held responsible? an individual can’t be held accountable merely for forwarding an email or putting up a public link to their Facebook profile.

The Internet and social networking sites are merely a more with the times channel by means of which the diffusion of information has been made easier. Unfortunately, or fortunately, calling on every person with access to a computer a qualified reporter with the capacity to reach large numbers of audiences the world over. So it is not the social networks that are to be answerable for this invasion of privacy, but society itself. Social tradition thrives on the passing around of gossip and information sharing. So long as you are not the subject, you have no objections passing on that humiliating video of a poor boy cavorting around his room making believe to be a rebel soldier from Star Wars (The boy is currently in therapy and has left school, in case you were puzzled). Websites such as TMZ.com are in business only thanks to human longing for salacious garbage and celebrity scandal.

In the same way, we must be aware of the Internet’s infinite possibility, and the lack of control over its content. In this day and age, one must know that anything they do could be on the Internet within seconds. With digital cameras, phones with movie-making features and immediate availability of YouTube and Facebook, your actions could be passed around to your friends and strangers equally well live-action. We need to revisit what is intimate and what is fair game, as it is no longer prudent to take for granted that everything we do will remain within our control. Technology has a trajectory of their own, and the Internet is a typical of an invention that can quietly slip away from its original use and obtain many more functions as long as the multitudes encourage it.

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