19.4.15
Presentation Reflection
As for my presentation, I am very pleasured for the positive comments from Mr Blackstone and fellow classmates. However, I deeply think it was not my best presentation. I did not had enough time for preparation. I did not even practice before class. That is why my fluency was not perfect. If I had written my script down and practiced a few times, it would be much better.
Reader response draft 4
In the article ‘Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom China, Russia, or the US?’ Morozov (2015) states that China and Russia both violate internet freedom since China blocks a few foreign websites and Russian make laws to surveillance data being stored inside the country. However,
the United State, despite being an advocate of internet freedom, had demanded to obtain internet data regardless of where it is stored as long as it is handled by US companies. He also mentioned that many US companies' interest are the same as the Washington's and their cooperation threatens other countries' technological sovereignty.
I agree with the author that China, Russia and the US all violate internet freedom but the US is much more aggressive than the other two countries. China and
Russia's restrictions only affect their own domestic users while the US is spying
on everyone around the world as most data are processed by American companies. The US government wants to access to all of the data, regardless where the data was generated. It means that over 75% of data generated worldwide can be accessed by the US government since since this amount is processed by US companies, namely
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (Search Engine Land, 2013). The irony here is that Washington accuses almost every other countries on the planet of violating
human rights and lacking of freedom while it is actually the one whose violation is themore severe and wide-spread.
Morozov mentions the Prism Program carried out by NSA which is strong evidence showing the US spying on personal data. Such a double standard makes people suspicious about
the US government's agenda.
Also, China and Russia have valid reasons to explain their violation of internet freedom. China and Russia are rising in many ways like economics, political and military and their rise challenges American interest. The not so friendly relationship with the US makes their digital sovereignty
much more important for national security. For example, China blocked
Facebook and YouTube because some Ughur and Tibetan extremists used those
two websites as platforms to spread threats which led to explosions and riots in
Tibet and Xinjiang. To fight against terrorists is the exactly the same reason that
the US uses to require customer data from those companies. However, Facebook and YouTube refused to cooperate with Beijing in the investigation and claimed
it was against customer privacy. Such incorporation resulted in
criminals fleeing away. There is also evidence pointed out by Mozorov that those American companies are actually providing data to Washington. I am not saying that the government has right to access personal data. However, when it is the matter of national security and
involves many more lives, we may give the government permit to do so. As for
China, it is only trying to reduce its citizens' use of American server since
American companies are not cooperating. People may accuse China and
Russia of being autocratic.However, the reality is even Brazil and Germany
whose governments have much better reputation and relationship with the US tried to get rid of American companies due to security reasons. These
examples can also be found in Mozorov's article.
The even worse thing is the Prism Program mentioned above. It taps into
user data of many big American companies and gets access to your personal data without you even knowing it. As I said, users may grant government some
right to access their personal data when it is critical moment. However, what the
Prism doing is watching my every movement. This government is not even my
own one and I severely doubt its agenda.
From this perspective, China and Russia are merely trying to protect their
citizens.
In conclusion, China and Russia blocked a few websites and force data to be
stored domestically while the US is looking at everyone’s internet data. All of
these are wrong, but the US is much more wrong and violates many more
people’s privacy.
Reference
Morozov. E. (2015, Jan4). Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom - China, Russia, or the US? .The Guardian. Retrieved from
Sullivan.D(2013),Google Still World’s Most Popular Search Engine By Far, But Share Of Unique Searchers Dips Slightly. Search Engine Land. Retrieved from: http://searchengineland.com/google-worlds-most-popular-search-engine-148089
Ball.J and Rushe.D(2013), NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others. The Guardian.
Problem Solution Essay Draft 4
Social media have become part of people's lives. All kinds
of social media are used
as platforms to interact with friends, get information and so on. In China,
there are 69.4 million internet users and 42.3% of their time is spent on
social networking (35th China Internet Development Statistics Report, 2015 ).
However, information on social media platforms is not properly vetted and such
potential false information can cause serious problems due to its fast
spreading speed. There is a huge amount of information on social media and
it is very difficult for ordinary people to determine the credibility. The wide
spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Relevant
authorities like the cyberpolice and China Internet Network Information
Centre(CNNIC) should make laws to stop false information from spreading, and the
education sectors, especially for primary and secondary schools, should train
students with better digital literacy.
On personal level , false information could damage
people's reputation. A deliberate or unintentional rumor could lead to a human
flesh search, which might expose all personal details of the targeted person.
His reputation could be damaged and personal life could be disturbed. For
example, the Chinese anti-corruption campaign uses social media as a platform
to expose corrupted officials. However, some netizens use it as a chance to
discredit political opponents by posting false information online. The targeted
person could end up in internal investigation, which could be considered as a
stain on his profile. On a much larger scale, a false rumor about a
disease outbreak or a crime could cause mass panic and result in social
disorder. For instance, a rumor about a beast named Sibuxiang penetrating the
city of Taiyuan City, China in 1994 made the whole city panic and people
barricaded themselves inside their houses.
One approach to reduce false information spreading on
social media platforms could be legislation. China passed a law last year
regarding punishment of intentional rumor spreaders. According to this law, if
a post contains false information and it is re-posted over 500 times or gets
over 5000 comments, the poster will be sentenced for up to two years in jail
(China Supreme Court Explanation, Sep 09 2013).
For example, Qin Huohuo, a rumormonger, was sentenced two years on a
defamation charge and another year for affray in 2014. Such laws have shown
positive effects in stopping rumors spreading and easing severe consequences. Since
China prosecuted two people who spread rumors intentionally, there has been less
disguised fake information online now (Hu, Less online false information
spreading, Dec 07 2013). However, there are still many problems with
such a method. For instance, it is difficult to differentiate whether or not the
person is spreading false information intentionally. He may happen to believe
the information that he spreads. Also, implementing such laws means that
the government has to monitor the online voice everyday and block some voices.
On one hand, people may fear that the government uses such laws as excuses to
silence political opponents. On the other hand, China has been accused of having
a lack of speech freedom. Implementing such laws could worsen its international
reputation on human rights. In the end, no matter how strong the punishment is
or how strict the laws are needed, the source or benefit of spreading rumors is
still there. Such a method could only ease the consequences but never stop the
spreading as long as the benefit is still there.
Schools can help to reduce false
information problem. Schools should equip students with better critical
thinking skills, which might enable them to recognize rumors and false
information and then choose not to spread them. The primary reason that false
information could have such a huge influence is due to fast spreading, which is
done by ordinary people who could be easily deceived. So, this problem would
only stop when most people can recognize the problem by themselves. Schools
should add critical thinking skills to school syllabus and start relevant
lessons in primary and secondary schools. Such critical thinking skills, which
include how to identify the credibility of the poster, how to check evidence
provided by the author and so on, are relevant to digital literacy. Teenagers
who are aged between 10 and 19 make up to 26% of Chinese netizens. Hence equipping them with better critical
thinking skills is the most effective way of solving problem. The reason to
target teenagers is not only because of their large proportion but also because
their behavior will determine the future internet environment. Also, their
presence in schools make the cost much lower than educating adult who are out
in society. One more point to add is that, in this information explosion world,
having good critical thinking skills is not only useful in stopping false
information, but also helpful for students in their future life.
In conclusion, education could stop false information
from spreading from the source but its time frame is too long. It may take
years or even decades to see its effect. So I suggest to use both of the above
methods. In the short run, the Chinese government can keep current laws to
punish intentional rumor spreaders and prevent severe consequences. In the long
run, people would be taught to judge the credibility of sources by themselves
through education. Once the education method starts to show its effect, Beijing
can abandon the first one as people would be ready.
References:
第三十五次中国互联网发展状况统计报告，35th China
Internet Development Statistics Report (2015), Cyberspace Administration of
China. Retrieved from:
http://www.cac.gov.cn/2015-02/03/c_1114222357.htm
Jeffrey Parker, "New liquor ad featuring 'beast' ignites
panic in Chinese town," Des Moines Register, Dec. 20, 1994. Retrieved
from:
http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_sibuxiang_beast
最高人民法院解释关于打击网络谣言，Chinese Supreme Court Explanation of Stopping Online Rumors(2013, Sep 09), Xinhua News Agency, Retrieved from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-09/09/c_117293022.htm
Rumormonger Qinhuohuo given 3 years by Beijing court(2014, April) Xinhua News Agency. Retrieved from:
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140417000114&cid=1103
Hu, XY.(2013, Dec 07), 网络谣言传播热度下降， Less False
Information Spreading Online, Changjiang News, Retrieved from:
http://hb.ifeng.com/news/focus/detail_2013_12/07/1559504_0.shtml?_from_ralated
Critical Reflection Outline
1) How I used to write, how tutors gave feedback and scores
2) how I feel about peer review, before the course and now
the change of attitude towards peer review, my old wrong opinion about it and benefit it brings
the pressure it brings, both positive and negative side
3) What I think would be benefit myself in the future and what can be improved
2) how I feel about peer review, before the course and now
the change of attitude towards peer review, my old wrong opinion about it and benefit it brings
the pressure it brings, both positive and negative side
3) What I think would be benefit myself in the future and what can be improved
Summary
According to ‘Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom China, Russia, or the US?’- Evgeny Morozov (2015), the author states that China and Russia both violate internet freedom since China blocks a few foreign websites and Russian laws make surveillance data being stored inside the country. However,the United State despite being an advocate of internet freedom, had demanded to obtain internet data
regardless of where it is stored as long as it is handled by US companies. He
also mentioned that many US companies' interest are the same as the Washington's and their cooperation threatens other countries' technological sovereignty.
regardless of where it is stored as long as it is handled by US companies. He
also mentioned that many US companies' interest are the same as the Washington's and their cooperation threatens other countries' technological sovereignty.
17.4.15
Critical Reflection
Time flies fast. It comes to the end of this course already. When I look back, I have to say I had a new experience with English learning.
In the past, teachers just asked me to write essays or do homework and then gave a final score. There were some comments but most of them were general comments like "good structure" or "need to improve your grammar". There was very little detail suggestions. However, things changed in ES1102.
To be honest, I was not very comfortable when I first heard about the blog. I did not what everyone to judge my work. Knowing that other people would comment my work stopped me from being lazy and careless. I had to work harder and be more careful so that my work would not be the worst one. Now I think the peer pressure may be one of the reasons of my progress. After some time, I saw both tutor and classmates' comments. Their comments covered many aspects, from grammar to organization. I started to like these comments. Because when I write, my mind is sometimes blocked and I may ignore some aspects related to the topic. Looking at comments and other's work helped me to be more comprehensive about the topic. Also, classmates would point out every single mistake and I learnt from these mistakes. Another different thing is that I know how my essays are graded so that I work on those areas specifically, like organization, language and content.
As for the future, I hope there would still be peer review when I write academic essays. They can not only help me check grammar mistakes but also enlighten me with the topic. Also, peer review creates peer pressure which is also a motivation for me to improve.
In the past, teachers just asked me to write essays or do homework and then gave a final score. There were some comments but most of them were general comments like "good structure" or "need to improve your grammar". There was very little detail suggestions. However, things changed in ES1102.
To be honest, I was not very comfortable when I first heard about the blog. I did not what everyone to judge my work. Knowing that other people would comment my work stopped me from being lazy and careless. I had to work harder and be more careful so that my work would not be the worst one. Now I think the peer pressure may be one of the reasons of my progress. After some time, I saw both tutor and classmates' comments. Their comments covered many aspects, from grammar to organization. I started to like these comments. Because when I write, my mind is sometimes blocked and I may ignore some aspects related to the topic. Looking at comments and other's work helped me to be more comprehensive about the topic. Also, classmates would point out every single mistake and I learnt from these mistakes. Another different thing is that I know how my essays are graded so that I work on those areas specifically, like organization, language and content.
As for the future, I hope there would still be peer review when I write academic essays. They can not only help me check grammar mistakes but also enlighten me with the topic. Also, peer review creates peer pressure which is also a motivation for me to improve.
4.4.15
problem solution essay draft 3
Social media has become part of people's lives. all kinds
of social media are used as
platforms to interact with friends, get information and so on. In China, there
are 69.4 million internet users and 42.3% of their time are spent n social
networking (35th China Internet Development Statistics Report, 2015 ). However,
information on social media platforms are not properly vetted and such potential
false information can cause serious problems due to its fast spreading
speed. There is a huge amount of information on social media and it is
very difficult for ordinary people to determine the credibility. The wide
spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Relevant authorities
like cyberpolice and China Internet Network Information Centre(CNNIC) should
make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening, and the education sectors,
especially for primary and secondary schools, should train students with better
critical thinking skills.
On personal level, false
infromation could damage people's reputation. A deliberate or unintentional
rumor could lead to Human Flesh search, which would expose all personal details
of the targeted person. His reputation could be damaged and personal life could
be disturbed. For example, the Chinese anti-corruption campaign uses social
media as a platform to expose corrupted officials. However, some netizens use
it as a chance to discredit political opponents by posting false information
online. The targeted person could end up in internal investigation, which could
be considered as a stain on his profile. On a much larger scale, a false
rumor about a disease outbreak or a crime could cause mass panic and result in
social disorder. For instance, a rumor about a beast named Sibuxiang
penetrating the city made the whole city panic and people barricaded themselves
inside houses in Taiyuan, China 1994.
One approach to reduce
false information spreading on social media platforms could be legislation. China
passed a law last year regarding punishment of intentional rumor spreaders.
According to this law, if a post contains false information and it is re-posted
over 500 times or gets over 5000 comments, the poster will be sentenced for up
to two years in jail (China Supreme Court Explanation, Sep 09 2013). For example, Qin Huohuo, a rumormonger, was
sentenced two years on a defamation charge and another year for affray in 2014.
Such laws have shown positive effects in stopping rumors spreading and easing
severe consequences. After China prosecuted two people who spread rumors
intentionally, there are less disguise information online now(Hu XY, Less
online false information spreading, Dec 07 2013). However, there are still
many problems with such a method. It would be difficult to
differentiate whether or not the person is spreading false information intentionally.
He may happen to believe the information that he spreads.
Also, implementing such laws means that the government has to monitor the
online voice everyday and block some voices. On one hand, people may fear that
the government uses such laws as excuses to silence political opponents. On the
other hand, China has been accused of being lack of speech freedom.
Implementing such laws could worsen its international reputation on human
rights. In the end, no matter how strong the punishment is or how strict the
laws are carried out, the source or benefit of spreading rumors is still there.
Such method could only ease the consequences but never stop the spreading as
long as the benefit is still there.
Schools
can help to solve false information problem. Schools should equip students with
better critical thinking skills, which might enable them to recognize rumors
and false information and then choose not to spread them. The primary reason
that false information could have such a huge influence is due to fast
spreading, which is done by ordinary people who could be easily deceived. So,
this problem would only stop when most people can recognize the problem by
themselves. Schools should add critical thinking skills to school syllabus and
start relevant lessons in primary and secondary schools. Such critical thinking
skills are relevant to digital literacy which includes how to identify the
credibility of the poster, how to check evidence provided by the author and so
on. Teenagers who aged between 10 and 19 makes up to 26% of Chinese netizens,
hence equipping them with better critical thinking skills is the most effective
way of solving problem. The reason of target teenagers is not only because of
their large proportion but also their behavior would determine the future
internet environment. Also, their presence in schools make the cost much lower
than educating adult who are out in society. One more point to add is that, in
this information explosion world, having good critical thinking skills is not
only useful in stopping false information, but also helpful for students in
their future life.
In conclusion, education
could stop false information from spreading from the source but its time frame
is too long. It may take years or even decades to see its effect. So I suggest
to use both of the above methods. In the short run, Chinese government can keep
current laws to punish intentional rumor spreaders and prevent severe
consequences. In the long run, people would be taught to judge the credibility
of sources by themselves through education. Once the education method starts to
show its effect, Beijing can abandon the first one as people would be ready.
References:
第三十五次中国互联网发展状况统计报告，35th China Internet
Development Statistics Report (2015), Cyberspace Administration of China.
Retrieved from:
http://www.cac.gov.cn/2015-02/03/c_1114222357.htm
Jeffrey Parker, "New
liquor ad featuring 'beast' ignites panic in Chinese town," Des Moines
Register, Dec. 20, 1994. Retrieved from:
http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_sibuxiang_beast
最高人民法院解释关于打击网络谣言，Chinese Supreme Court Explanation of Stopping Online Rumors(2013, Sep 09), Xinhua News Agency, Retrieved from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-09/09/c_117293022.htm
Rumormonger Qinhuohuo given 3 years by Beijing court(2014, April) Xinhua News Agency. Retrieved from:
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140417000114&cid=1103
Hu, XY.(2013, Dec 07), 网络谣言传播热度下降， Less False Information
Spreading Online, Changjiang News, Retrieved from:
http://hb.ifeng.com/news/focus/detail_2013_12/07/1559504_0.shtml?_from_ralated
13.3.15
Problem Solution Essay Draft 2
Social media has become part of people's life. We use all kinds of social media as platforms to interact with friends, get informations and so on. There are 890 million people who log on Facebook daily and the statistics is still increasing. However, informations we get for social media platforms are not poorly vetted and these potential false information can cause serious problems due to thier fast spreading speed. There are huge amount of information on social media and it is very difficult for ordinary people to tell the credibility. The wide spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Authorities of telecommunication departments should make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening and education sector should start to pay more attention to critical thinking skills and equip students with such skills.
On personal level, a deliberate or unintentional rumor could lead to human flesh search which would expose all personal details of the targeted person. His reputation could be damaged and personal life could be disturbed. For example, Chinese anti-corruption campaign uses social media as a platform to expose corrupted officials. However, some people use it as a chance to discredit political opponents by posting false information online. The targeted person could be ended up in internal investigation which could be considered as a stain in his profile. On a much larger scale, a false rumor like disease outbreak or crime could cause mass panic and result in social disorder. For instance, rumor about Ebola spreading fast in Guinean made student scare to return to school.
Actually many countries have started working on false information spreading on social media platforms. For example, China passed a law last year regarding punishment of intentional rumor spreaders. According to this law, if your post contains false information and it is re-posted for over 500 times or gets over 5000 comments, you will be sentenced for up to two years sentence(China Supreme Court Explanation, Sep 09 2013). India also implemented laws to give up to five years sentence regarding false online information which may lead to social panic, after Mumbai Explosion 2011(Section 505, India Penal Code). Such laws have shown positive effects in stopping rumor spreading and easing severe consequences. For example, after China prosecuted two people who spread rumors intentionally, there are less disguise information online now(Hu XY, Less online false information spreading, Dec 07 2013). However, there are still many problems of such method. It would be difficult to differentiate whether or not the person is spreading intentionally. He may happen to believe what he spreads. Also, implementing such laws means that the government has to monitor the online voice everyday and block some voices.On one hand, people may fear that the government use such laws as excuses to silence political opponents. On the other hand, most governments may be reluctant to adopt such methods as it could be seen as strong censorship and jeopardize their reputation in freedom of speech. In the end, no matter how strong the punishment is or how strict the laws are carried out, the source or benefit of spreading rumor is still there. Such method could only ease the consequences but never stop the spreading because it never target at the original source.
Education is another possible way to solve false information problem. School equip students with better critical thinking skill which enable them to recognize rumors and false information and then choose not to spread them.The primary reason that false information could have such huge influence in due to fast spreading and the fast spreading is done by ordinary people who could be easily deceived. So, this problem would only stop when most people can recognize the problem by themselves. Education Departments should add critical thinking skills to school syllabus and start relevant lessons in primary and secondary schools. Since most online activities are carried out by teenagers, equipping them with better critical thinking skills is the most effective way of solving problem. Also, their presence in schools make the cost much lower than educating adult who are out in society. One more point to add is that, in this information explosion world, having good critical thinking skill is not only useful in stopping false information, but also helpful for students in their future life.
In conclusion, education could stop false information from spreading from the source but its time frame is too long. It may take years or even decades to see its effect. So I suggest to use both of the above methods. In the short run, we implement laws to punish intentional rumor spreaders and prevent severe consequences. In the long run, we let people to judge the credibility of sources by themselves through education. Once the education method starts to show its effect, the government can abandon the first one as people would be ready.
Camara K, Guinea Scrambles to shut down false vaccination Rumor, Voice of America, Feb 15 2015, Retrieved from: http://www.voanews.com/content/guinea-scrambles-to-shut-down-false-vaccination-rumor/2644744.html
最高人民法院解释关于打击网络谣言，Chinese Supreme Court Explanation of Stopping Online Rumors, Xinhua News Agency, Sep 09 2013, Retrieved from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-09/09/c_117293022.htm
Section 505 of India Penal Code,Retrieved from: http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1198526/
网络谣言传播热度下降，Less False Information Spreading Online, Hu XY, Changjiang News, Retrieved from: http://hb.ifeng.com/news/focus/detail_2013_12/07/1559504_0.shtml?_from_ralated
10.3.15
An Influential Event
This happened on May 22 2008, ten days after the Wenchuan Earthquake. We were having PE lesson. The teacher dismissed us and let us do whatever we want. It seemed like a good afternoon until someone shouting my name. Then I saw my best friend in a spasm, twitching his arms and legs on the ground. The scene really scared me and my mind went totally blank. Soon later, he was picked up by school doctor and then sent to hospital. Even till now, he cannot remember anything happened that afternoon. Seeing my best friend laying on the ground made me realize how vulnerable we are and how easily we could be destroyed. I am a freethinker so I will not say our lives are given by God or other forms of supernatural power, but still, we need to cherish every day we have, because we do not know what would happen to us tomorrow,since we are so vulnerable.
Problem solution essay draft 1
Social media has become part of people's life. We use all kinds of social media as platforms to interact with friends, get informations and so on. There are 890 million people who log on Facebook daily and the statistics is still increasing. However, informations we get for social media platforms are not poorly vetted and these potential false information can cause serious problems due to thier fast spreading speed. There are huge amount of information on social media and it is very difficult for ordinary people to tell the credibility. The wide spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Authorities of telecommunication departments should make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening. Education sector should start to pay more attention to critical thinking skills and equip students with such skills.
On personal level, a deliberate or unintentional rumor could lead to human flesh search which would expose all personal details of the targeted person. His reputation could be damaged and personal life could be disturbed. For example, Chinese anti-corruption campaign uses social media as a platform to expose corrupted officials. However, some people use it as a chance to discredit political opponents by posting false information online. The targeted person could be ended up in internal investigation which could be considered as a stain in his profile. On a much larger scale, a false rumor like disease outbreak or crime could cause mass panic and result in social disorder. For instance, rumor about Ebola spreading fast in Guinean made student scare to return to school.
Actually many countries have started working on false information spreading on social media platforms. For example, China passed a law last year regarding punishment of intentional rumor spreaders. According to this law, if your post contains false information and it is re-posted for over 500 times or gets over 5000 comments, you will be sentenced for up to two years sentence. India also implemented laws to give up to five years sentence regarding false online information which may lead to social panic, after Mumbai Explosion 2011. However, there are still many problems of such method. It would be difficult to differentiate whether or not the person is spreading intentionally. He may happen to believe what he spreads. Also, implementing such laws means that the government has to monitor the online voice everyday and block some voices.On one hand, people may fear that the government use such laws as excuses to silence political opponents. On the other hand, most governments may be reluctant to adopt such methods as it could be seen as strong censorship and jeopardize their reputation in freedom of speech. In the end, no matter how strong the punishment is or how strict the laws are carried out, the source or benefit of spreading rumor is still there. Such method could only ease the consequences but never stop the spreading because it never target at the original source.
Education is another possible way to solve false information problem. School equip students with better critical thinking skill which enable them to recognize rumors and false information and then choose not to spread them.The primary reason that false information could have such huge influence in due to fast spreading and the fast spreading is done by ordinary people who could be easily deceived. So, this problem would only stop when most people can recognize the problem by themselves. This could be done by having critical thinking lessons in primary and secondary schools. Since most online activities are carried out bu teenagers, equipping them with better critical thinking skills is the most effective way of solving problem. Also, their presence in schools make the cost much lower than educating adult who are out in society.
In conclusion, education could stop false information from spreading from the source but its time frame is too long. It may take years or even decades to see its effect. So I suggest to use both of the above methods. In the short run, we implement laws to punish intentional rumor spreaders and prevent severe consequences. In the long run, we let people to judge the credibility of sources by themselves through education. Once the education method starts to show its effect, the government can abandon the first one as people would be ready.
Camara K, Guinea Scrambles to shut down false vaccination Rumor, Voice of America, Feb 15 2015, http://www.voanews.com/content/guinea-scrambles-to-shut-down-false-vaccination-rumor/2644744.html
Chinese Supreme Court Explanation of Stopping Online Rumors, Sep 09 2013, http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-09/09/c_117293022.htm
Section 505 of India Penal Code,http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1198526/
5.3.15
Outline
Main problem: false information spreading fast on social media platform and serious consequences like personal insulting and mass panic could be caused
affected target group/stakeholders:ordinary people who use social media, government, innocent people who are targeted
agent of change/stakeholders: authority in charge of telecommunication, education sector
solution 1: Authorities of telecommunication department regulate information spreading on social media platforms and impose laws to punish those who spread rumors intentionally. Such method is using by Chinese government.
evaluation: 1,It would be difficult to differentiate whether or not the person is spreading intentionally. He may happen to believe what he spread to be truth.
2. Most governments may be reluctant to adopt such methods as it could be seen as strong censorship and jeopardize their reputation in freedom of speech.
3. No matter how strong the punishment is, the source or benefit of spreading rumor is still there. So, such method could only ease the consequences but never stop the spreading.
solution 2: School equip students with better critical thinking skill which enable them to tell the problem of rumors and then choose not to spread them.
Implication/Conclusion: Education could stop rumors from spreading but its time frame is too long. It may take years to see its effect. So I suggest to use both of the above methods. When education shows its effect, then abandon the first one due to its weakness in censorship.
Thesis: There are huge amount of information on social media and it is very difficult for ordinary people to tell the credibility. The wide spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Authorities should make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening. Education sector should start to pay more attention to critical thinking skills and equip students with such skills.
2.3.15
Problem Solution Essay Outline
Thesis:
There are huge amount of information on social media and it is very difficult for ordinary people to tell the credibility. The wide spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Authorities should make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening and prepare people with more critical thinking skills. People with large social media influence, like celebrities, famous scholars and so on, should actively take their responsibility to stop the spread of wrong information.
Describe the severe outcome:
personal level: a deliberate or unintentional rumor could lead to human flesh search which would expose all personal details of the target person. His reputation could be damaged and personal life could be disturbed. e.g. Chinese anti-corruption campaign uses social media as a platform to expose corrupted officials. However, some people use it as a chance to discredit political opponents.
society/national level: a false rumor like disease outbreak or crime could cause mass panic and result in social disorder. e.g. rumor about Ebola spreading fast in Guinean made student scare to return to school.
Solutions:
1.authorities
telecommunication department should make laws to punish those false information, e.g China just prosecuted two people who made profit by spreading false information on social media. However, such laws may be criticized of speech control(will evaluate more)
education department should teach students to have more critical skills so that they would be able to tell the false information. e.g. Singapore MOE. This is the key to stop false information but its effect would only be shown in the long run.
2.people with large social media influences
include celebrities, famous scholars and people with many followers on social media
16.2.15
Reader Response Draft 3
According to ‘Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom China, Russia, or the US?’- Evgeny Morozov (2015), the author states that China and Russia both violate internet freedom since China blocks a few foreign websites and Russian laws make surveillance data being stored inside the country. However,the United State despite being an advocate of internet freedom, had demanded to obtain internet data
regardless of where it is stored as long as it is handled by US companies. He
also mentioned that many US companies' interest are the same as the Washington's and their cooperation threatens other countries' technological sovereignty.
regardless of where it is stored as long as it is handled by US companies. He
also mentioned that many US companies' interest are the same as the Washington's and their cooperation threatens other countries' technological sovereignty.
I agree with the author that China, Russia and the US all violate internet
freedom but the US is much more aggressive than the other two countries.
freedom but the US is much more aggressive than the other two countries.
China and Russia's restrictions only affect their own domestic users while the US is spying on everyone around the world as most data are processed by American
companies. The US government wants to access to all of them, regardless where the data was generated. It means that over 75% of data generated worldwide can be
accessed by the US government since they are all processed by US companies,
namely Google, Yahoo and Microsoft(bySearch Engine Land 2013). The irony here is that Washington accuses almost every other countries on the planet of violating human right and lacking of freedom while it is actually the one whose violation is most severe and wide-spread. Morozov mentions the Prism Program carried out by NSA which is strong evidence showing the US spying on personal data. Such double
companies. The US government wants to access to all of them, regardless where the data was generated. It means that over 75% of data generated worldwide can be
accessed by the US government since they are all processed by US companies,
namely Google, Yahoo and Microsoft(bySearch Engine Land 2013). The irony here is that Washington accuses almost every other countries on the planet of violating human right and lacking of freedom while it is actually the one whose violation is most severe and wide-spread. Morozov mentions the Prism Program carried out by NSA which is strong evidence showing the US spying on personal data. Such double
standard makes people suspicious about the US government's agenda.
Also, China and Russia have valid reasons to explain their violation of internet freedom. China and Russia are rising and their rise challenges American interest.The not so friendly relationship with the US makes their digital sovereignty much more important for national security. For example, China blocked Facebook and YouTube because some Ughur and Tibetan extremists used those two websites as
platform to spread threats which led to explosion and riots in Tibet and Xinjiang. To fight against terrorists is the exactly the same reason that the US uses to require customer data from those companies.However, Facebook and YouTube refused to cooperate with Beijing in the investigation and claimed it was against customer privacy. There are also evidence pointed out by Mozorov that those American
companies are actually providing data to Washington. I am not saying that the government has right to access personal data. However, when it is the matter of national security and involves many more lives, we may give the government permit to do so. As for China, it is only trying to reduce its citizens' use of American server since American companies are not cooperating. People may accuse China and
Russia of being autocratic.However, the reality is even Brazil and Germany whose government have much better reputation and relationship with the US tried to get rid of American companies due to security reasons. These examples can also be
found in Mozorov's article.
found in Mozorov's article.
The even worse thing is the Prism Program I mentioned above. It taps into user data of many big American companies and get access to your personal data without you even knowing it. As I said, we may grant government some right to access our personal data when it is critical moment. However, what the Prism doing is watching my every movement. This government is not even my own oneand I severely doubt its agenda. From this perspective, China and Russia are merely trying to protect their citizens.
In conclusion, China and Russia blocked a few pages and force data to be stored domestically while the US is looking at everyone’s internet data. All of
them are wrong, but the US is much more wrong and violates much more people’s privacy.
Reference:
Morozov. E (2015,Jan4). Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom - China, Russia, or the US?.The Guardian. Retrieved from
Sullivan.D(2013),Google Still World’s Most Popular Search Engine By Far, But Share Of Unique Searchers Dips Slightly. Search Engine Land. Retrieved from: http://searchengineland.com/google-worlds-most-popular-search-engine-148089
Ball.J and Rushe.D(2013), NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others. The Guardian.
Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data
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