Internet Control

At the highest level, the Internet is just a collection of computers that have been setup to allow connections via an agreed upon protocol (usually HTTP or HTTPS). Web browsers know how to use this protocol, and users can therefore use a web browser to connect to various websites, which represent those computers that have been setup to receive these kinds of HTTP and HTTPS connections. Because of the virtual nature of Internet browsing, it is difficult for any governing body to control what can and cannot be accessed or displayed on the Internet.

Background

Since the beginnings of civilization, governing bodies have made special efforts to control the flow of information. For example, the United States government keeps top secret documents, which they does not make public until a specified time period has passed since the document was filed. In some countries, the government has complete control over what information is released via the public media outlets. However, the digital age has introduced a new medium for the transfer of information, the Internet.

Because the Internet is a distributed network of computers, it is difficult for any governing body to say what can and cannot be accessed or displayed on the Internet. Even if a government manages to control one outlet of information flow on the internet, there are still millions of other ways that a user can get to the same information. In general, most other media outlets can be censored or controlled in some way by a local government. At the present time, the ethical use of the Internet is up to the user base. Because of this, Internet is the source of much social controversy in the information age.