Emerging styles of social control on the internet: Justice denied

Abstract

The rapid growth of the Internet during the past 10 years has resulted in many disagreements over who should have the power to make and enforce the rules of on-line content and conduct and what form, such rules and enforcement should take— informal or formal. The extremes at which each of these potentially complementary systems of social control are currently practiced have contributed to an atmosphere of inconsistency, contradiction, uncertainty, and excessive discretion amongst state agencies, Internet service providers, system operators, and Internet users. If the Internet is to serve as a major communication, entertainment, and information medium in the 21st Century, a system is needed that integrates the strengths of both informal and formal systems of control while respecting the social, intellectual, and political freedom of the Internet community.