Online censorship is a very controversial issue where governments, companies, or internet service providers block certain websites or keywords to prevent the spread of information. The video, “Internet Censorship Explained”, explains what goes on to censor the internet. When you type the URL of the website you want to go to, your computer sends a message to the DNS server(almost like an internet GPS), asking what the IP address(like coordinates of the site on the internet) is. The DNS server either replies with the IP address, or it asks other DNS servers what the IP address is. When it has the IP address, the DNS server sends it to your computer which allows your computer to connect to the website. The way a censor works is it prevents the DNS server from receiving the domain name, or it changes the IP address to something that causes the connection to fail. It can also send TCP reset packets if the domain has blocked words. This can cause problems if, for example, you must write an essay for Dual Enrollment English using Microsoft Word, and the school Wi-Fi blocks Microsoft Word. The podcast, “Free Speech or Hate Speech: When Does Online Hate Speech Become A Real Threat?” talks about everyday internet users and intelligence agencies and how crimes can be linked to uncensored social media posts. Often after someone commits a horrific crime, their social media posts are thoroughly examined, and more times than not, they are full of hate speech towards a minority. However, hate speech can bring attention to the issue. Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, says that “minorities are better off in a society that protects hate speech than in a society that protects minorities from hate speech.” If we censor the hate speech, nobody will be able to bring light to the minorities, so nothing will be done to stop the prejudice. Also, it would be a direct violation of the first amendment of the US constitution, where we are given the freedom of speech and press. Censorship can also be used for good, like preventing people from buying inhumane things on the black market. However, governments have been known in the past to censor things that make them look bad. For example, if you were to search the Tiananmen Square massacre on China’s government-controlled version of Google, Baidu, it will show one image of tanks driving, and that is it. However, if you look it up on Google, there are thousands of images of the people being slaughtered. Because of this, my recommended policy is to censor things like the black market, human trafficking, and other highly illegal internet sites, but it should be the search engines and browsers that have control over censorship, not the US government. Internet Censorship Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ohH-RkSLo4 Free Speech or Hate Speech: When Does Online Hate Speech Become A Real Threat?: npr.org/2018/11/19/669361577/free-speech-or-hate-speech-when-does-online-hate-speechbecome-a-real-threat Baidu: https://image.baidu.com/search/index?tn=baiduimage&ipn=r&ct=201326592&cl=2&fm=detail& lm=-1&hd=undefined&latest=undefined&copyright=undefined&st=1&sf=2&fmq=1600262547980_R_D&fm=detail&pv=&ic=undefined&nc=1&z=undefined&se= &showtab=0&fb=0&width=undefined&height=undefined&face=0&istype=2&ie=utf8&word=Tiananmen+Square+massacre Google: https://www.google.com/search?q=tiananmen+square+massacre&sxsrf=ALeKk03p_LA9jAbLK 15S1TYSRa1uVOZ6nA:1600262658401&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdk7 T64u3rAhWYhXIEHWCnAG8Q_AUoAXoECBcQAw&biw=1920&bih=975
