Who Is Scared Of Colombo Telegraph?
Malinda Seneviratne
We live in a world where the Bible and Quran are used to justify anything and everything, a world where the teachings of the Buddha are (mis)interpreted to buttress political projects quite antithetical to the teachings of Siddhartha Gauthama and a world where the works of Karl Marx are mined for ‘appropriate’ quotes to support preferred political position. In such a world, selectivity, deliberate downplaying and happy inflation abound. The internet, for all its promise, is made as much of information as misinformation. It can empower and it can also lead astray.
So this is a world of (mis)information overload where effective regulatory laws really don’t exist. It is a world made for slander and lying where those with bucks and guns can mine selectively, conjure up files upon files of fantasies and, let’s face it, vilify with impunity. And there are enough takers too, enough people who revel in garbage production and enough demand to lap up the produce with glee. The discerning would have a good sense of true weight of ‘story’ and by and by figure out which sources are reliable and which are not.
The most important point is that you can’t really shut people from going where they want to go. Those who want pornography will visit such sites. Those who want gossip will find it. It all depends on what people want and how serious they are about getting reliable information. For example, if you want information about the ills of smoking, it won’t be enough to look for anti-smoking websites. What appear as anti-smoking sites in the first several pages of Google, for instance, are operated by various sections of the tobacco industry. Even the ‘opposition’, thus, is regulated. If you have bucks, it can be done. On the other hand, the truth, as they say, is ‘out there’ and it is virtually impossible to block all roads leading to it.
This is why site-blocking is a puerile exercise. Anyone can say ‘any old thing’ slander included. What is blocked can be accessed through proxy servers; works for pornography and works for mischievous or slanderous sites that paint themselves as neutral, political commentators.Read More
