SAFER INTERNET DAY
If we turn the pages of history, we can interpret the characteristics of every century. For instance, the Industrial Revolution in the 18thcentury. On the same lines, the 20thcentury saw the Internet revolution; rather, we are still reaping the extent of the same. Calling it a revolution would be a potent term encompassing the large-scale and widespread effects it manifested on societies in every nook and corner of the globe. Hardly is there any region/place where the Internet has not reached yet. Despite sharing knowledge and connecting with others as its primary use, one should not be ignorant of the other side of the coin. The Industrial Revolution has also hadgood and bad consequences—one can never disagree with that.
No doubt the INTERNET has made our life easier and more comfortable owing to its features like e-shopping, e-consultation, delivery of medicines, sharing of knowledge, and the like. The government, in recognition of the potential it has in the delivery of services to citizens in a transparent manner, introduced various platforms to avail the citizens of the same. Also the business opportunities—how can one forget that? As of today, we can get almost anything delivered to our doorstep, be it foodstuffs, clothing, machinery, everyday essentials, etc., at the comfort of a click. Nowadays conventional businesses are also finding online platforms cost-effective in terms of marketing and sale of their products.
Irrespective of all the comforts and ease, the INTERNET has availed us of, we must not forget the other side of the coin—often the dark one. Criminals and people with ill intentions have always been there from the very first civilisation. However, their modus operandi is flexible and gets adapted according to the prevalent times. And YES, the Internet is also not spared from them; rather, most of the crimes or their abetment is done through one or the other forms of the Internet.
A more extraordinary thing about the Internet is one can remain anonymous after committing a crime if he/she is well versed with the provisions it provides to remain so. Further, it becomes tiresome and heavily resource-consuming for concerned government agencies to track down the criminals. Apart from several global organizations, governments of several nations including India have taken cognizance of the online crimes that have now become a nuisance for every citizen of the country. Many cyber-policies have been made effective and stringent implementation of the relevant laws is also in vogue.
To spread awareness regarding the safe use of the Internet and the protection of its users, especially the elderly and children from any harm, the second TUESDAY of FEBRUARY is celebrated as “SAFER INTERNET DAY” every year. Several programs at the international as well as national level are being conducted to achieve the various objectives among which the following are notable:
- Promotingprivacy-friendly use of the Internet,
- Preventing users, especially children from online abuse,
- Awaring the users about protecting themselves from cyber threats,
- Keeping a check on the trafficking of illicit commodities
This year, the theme is “TOGETHER FOR A BETTER INTERNET”. The word better has different connotations; it can be consciousness of the prevalent menace of fake news, precautions to be taken regarding data privacy, deepfakes, challenges put forth by AI, cyber-crimes, and various possibilities that threaten an Internet user’s security and privacy. The Internet is a network of networks. Any disruption at any point in the network can cause cascading ramifications on the related Internet ecosystem, whether big or small. Similarly, the abuse of the Internet in one place doesn’t necessarily mean it will be restricted to that place only. There are provisions and possibilities on the Internet to disrupt the digital infrastructure of a nation at a distance without the need to be physically present there.
The introduction of AI on all leading platforms has now complicated the whole scenario. The experts are themselves still guessing and learning the peculiarities and challenges, AI can pose in the near future. One group is advocating in employment of AI in fields like medicine, surgery, discoveries, inventions, space explorations, and other advanced fields while the other group is talking about the serious outcomes of its abuse if no policy check is kept on its development.The integration of AI with the dark web is a lethal combination. Since AI is still in development and we are yet to see the full potential of AI as well as the Internet, numerous instances of their abuse (which are on record) be it misinformation, deepfakes, financial frauds, or digital arrests make us think again on the other face of the coin.
Regarding social media apps, much has been read and written about them. There is nothing social in them except the name. Dating apps are nowadays luring a certain populace towards lavish spending of resources- time and money. Their algorithms are designed so that more and more time is spent on these apps, attention is grabbed once they’re opened, and more and more personal details are collected, whether knowingly or unknowingly, to further refine the feed for the particular user and also sell/share the data to the potential data brokers. There is no need to get hooked up to the perpetual feed when more than ninety-nine percent of the content is not neededby us. Moreover, the physical and psychological harm that these apps cause to their users is a topic for some other day.
A virtual world will remain always a virtual one. Playing a game like a cricket/a football or interacting with other people in a virtual mode and a physical one can never be the same. A better Internet would be to use/ access it only at the time of need and not for our entertainment and comfort to such an extent that it compromises our day-to-day activities and engagements.A better Internet would be to protect our privacy as much as possible which in turn would limit abuse of the former.A better Internet for children would be to have parental control on devices that have Internet access so that theirdeveloping mental setup is not altered in a damaging way and a better Internet would be to make our society awareof the pros and cons of the same.
Tailpiece
One would find a sharp knife as well as a gas stove in our kitchen, both are meant to be used for the job they are made for but the evil will find a way to nag us and taste their other sides also if we adopta careless attitude towards them.We can injure both ourselves and others if they are not handled properly.We can’t forget the story of dynamite.
The choice is ours. On this occasion of Safer Internet Day, let us promise to not declare our details like email, phone numbers, addresses, photographs, etc. on vulnerable/ harmful websites and apps. The need of the hour is to have a check on how we use the Internet both at our societal as well as at the government level so that the evil face of the Internet prevalent in today’s world is nipped in its bud.
(Author is a columnist and can be reached at: [email protected])
