Internet Pornography: Solving Elusive Problem Essay

No one can deny the immeasurable benefits of the internet to the society as a whole. It is a limitless source of information that offers an array of helpful, constructive and educational material for people of all ages. However, like anything else, it does not come with benefits alone. Internet is highly susceptible to bring harm to users in general, and children and minors in particular, through its free and immense exposure to pornography. However small a content of the Internet on the whole this maybe, it is bound to bring a greater harm to the young minds as well as adult, than the benefits from the largely available advantageous information. This paper will examine the extent of this harm with support of latest research and literature, and the latest methods from a state and local level that are being used to combat the pervasiveness and easy access to the internet porn. Body of Paper The internet was originally built by the US military as a means of nuclear-assault-proof communication. The universities soon saw the value of a worldwide communication network and researchers from across the world began to distribute their work with contemporaries. But hackers began to break into the system so that eventually, for a small fee, it was decided to launch the network to all comers. Soon it was spread throughout the world at increasingly less cost and effort. The flow of information, knowledge and experiences thus shared was immense and of great value and benefit. However the information and content so readily available at this network has not necessarily been educational and enlightening. There is material sexually explicit in nature including pornography of all genders including children. The ironic part is that all such material is available freely without ant sort of restriction, in just a matter of keyboard punches. The internet users have a great number of children and minors who supposedly access to the internet for research and educational purposes. These children are conveniently exposed to such explicit materials, which harm their young minds and caste detrimental effects on their psychology. According to a study conducted by London School of Economics in year 2004, the children of age even as less as nine, are falling victims to the negative face of Internet every time they use it. The even more problematic element is the ignorance of parents of the risks associated with such a damaging issue. This study surveyed 1,100 children of ages between nine and nineteen and found that almost sixty percent of these regular Internet users frequently fell prey to the hurtful explicit material of pornography. Below are the key findings of this survey: ? â€Å"Nearly six in 10 have come into contact with online pornography. ? 38 per cent have seen a pornographic popup advert while doing something else. ? 36 per cent have accidentally found a pornographic website. ? 25 per cent have received pornographic junk mail by email or text. 10 per cent have visited a pornographic website on purpose. † (The Evening Standard, 2004, Pg. 6) In an article by Azy Barak and William A. Fisher (2001), the widespread porn on the internet and its progressive trend has been pointed out. â€Å"Current reports indicate variously that the online pornography industry will gross $366 million by 2001 (Spenger, 1999) or that it already grosses in excess of $1 billion (â€Å"Blue Money,† 1999), and reports indicate that a spectacular 69% of all e-commerce involves the purchase of sexual materials (â€Å"Blue Money,† 1999). Other sources report that 15% of all Internet users accessed one of the top five â€Å"Adult† websites in a recent month (Cooper et al, 1999), that sex is the most frequently searched topic on the Internet (Freeman-Longo & Blanchard, 1998), and that all of the top eight word searches on the Internet involve pornography (Sparrow & Griffiths, 1997). † (Barak and Fisher (2001)) The social and psychological effects of such ever more and cheaply accessible pornography on the minds of individuals, both adult and children is devastating. Such explicit images and videos contaminate the mentality and psyche leading towards appalling actions and exploitations. After engaging into extensive viewing of pornography, people get even more provoked and feel an even more intense need for sex. In order to satisfy such needs, people do incline towards forceful attempts, with both opposite genders and the same, even with children. According to an estimate, the attempts and incidents of rape in the United States rose substantially during 1995 to 1999. â€Å"This time interval is by all accounts a period of exponential growth in the availability and use of all forms of Internet sexually explicit materials (Cheney, 2000; Elmer-Dewitt, 1995; Freeman-Longo, 2000; Harmon & Boeringer, 1996; Mehta & Plaza, 1998; Rimm, 1995; Wysocki, 1998). † (Barak and Fisher (2001))