I am going to reflect on the readings and discussions from week 7 and the information we learned about freedom of information, and speech and the impact of whistle blowing and the actions of Wikileaks activities on the internet. The discussions around this topic highlighted how much everyone values freedom of expression and not having restrictions imposed on us in using this cyber technology.
I was engaged in the readings about Wikileaks and gaining more insight to why Julian Assande is motivated to do what he does through this organization. I felt that when you look at what he wants to do, he wants to expose people to reality and what is really going on in the world and what world governments are involved in and I think he just reminds us that when we watch the news we don't always get a true reading of events that happen in the world. The media, many times, presents stories, ideas and images in one light and it is common that presenting a news story one way can result in a lack of knowledge of what is really happening in the world. I wonder sometimes if we believe in freedom of expression and speech, what is really wrong with us having the freedom to know the real truth about events and make our own conclusions instead of the media or government involvement trying to shape our perceptions of the events that occur in our times and events that have occurred in past history. The least engaging Portion of the reading had to do with whistle blowing, because I felt that again in our society whenever someone wants to reveal the truth about wrongdoing, the corrupt ones want to punish the individual who takes a stand and hide the truth. There are so many stories of people being afraid to speak up due to the consequences of their actions, namely probably losing their job.
I learned this week that many people feel that regarding censorship that children should be protected from bad content and exposure to explicit, violent or other ill content, but adults not so much. I thought it was interesting that you don't want a child's mentality to be shaped by others ill content but when you become an adult it is ok if you choose, to expose yourself to these ill thoughts and activities, because we believe in freedom of choice and expression.
The things I learned this week will cause me to do more research on things I read about on the internet. There are indeed many different perspectives presented on the internet via blogs, news websites and even in social media. I usually read content on the internet and I think like most of us we can accept some content on the internet due to what resonates with our outlook and views about life and how we may approach life, but I learned that critical thinking and analyzing a matter and being open to looking at an idea in more than a couple of ways will help broaden my understanding of the various viewpoints on any given topics I choose to read about on the internet.
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