Could the internet as a whole ever be controlled or censored by private interests?

Question

What would they have to do to acquire this level of control?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

More easily than anyone wants to think. I'll leave it to others to summarize here for you; for now I just suggest digging into the net neutrality argument and some of the scarier scenarios projected by opponents of private regulation.

Answer 2

You haven't heard! I've already typed too much. Look into the Fiber Optic Network the we already paid the phone and cable companies to build 10 years ago, and never did.

Answer 3

It allready is.

Answer 4

By a single individual? No. But government agencies are already censoring alot of the information that is put on the web and closing down sites that are not seen as 'friendly' to what they want us to think.Im not meaning this in a conspiracy way, but as a fact in that a site that shows information of a 'sensitive' nature will be shut down

Answer 5

I hope not! Of course some websites should be eradicated but we're talking about general freedom of speech here. I doubt if a private concern would ever be allowed to censor the Internet - for one thing it's to darn big! Privacy is a huge issue on the Internet however, and there are hundreds (thousands) of websites that discuss this and offer anonymity solutions. I hope, in the end, common sense will prevail and the Internet will be allowed to be self-censoring with users reporting in-appropriate sites.

Answer 6

Google does have an unhealthy grip on the Internet in that it records search patterns and dictates what you will see if you use its search engine based on commercial interests.

Governments can also limit what people in certain countires can view, but on the whole information is now more freely available than ever before including giving access on how to make a nuclear bomb.