Negative effects of the internet on society

¶ … Technology Has Corrupted Society

As the world becomes more connected through the use of the Internet, mobile devices, and other emerging technologies, new threats are arising and cyber-violence and cyber-crime are becoming prevalent. Due to these new threats, organizations such as the Department of Justice and state legislatures must adapt to face and monitor such activities. There are several social facets which have been corrupted through the use of these emergent technologies. Cyber-crimes and cyber-harassment, including cyber-bullying, have marred several positive aspects of the Internet and the connectivity it can provide.

Studies have shown that the Internet is a used mostly for e-mail, research, chatting, and conducting business through e-commerce and providing a networking platform for businesses [ERBRING 2000]. In a report by Norman H. Nie and Lutz Erbring titled "Internet and Society," it has been found that the more people use the Internet, the more likely they are to lose contact with their social environment, burn their back on traditional media, work at home, spend less time shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, and spend less time sitting in traffic. Nie and Erbring also found that there is a correlation between the number of hours an individual spends on the Internet and how long they have been using it [ERBRING 2000].

As a result of people choosing to work from their home, as well as, participate and promote e-commerce, there has been a rise in cyber-crime that has been reported. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), established on May 8, 2000 and partnering with the National White Collar Crime Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has seen an increase in crimes that are committed online. IC3 deals with intellectual property rights matters, computer intrusions (hacking), economic espionage (theft of trade secrets), child pornography, international money laundering, identity theft and several other cyber-crimes [CYBER CRIME REPORT 2009]. During 2009, 336,655 complaints were filed with the IC3, a 22.3% increase from 275,284 complaints filed in 2008. It is estimated that the amount of money lost through cyber-crimes exceeded $559.7 million. Consumer complaints filed with the IC3 included e-mail scams, of which 16.6% were "FBI" scams, 11.9% of claims were attributed to non-delivered merchandise, and 9.8% of complaints were attributed to advance-fee fraud scams. The top five offenses that were reported to law enforcement authorities include: non-delivered merchandise (19.9%), identity theft (14.1%), auction fraud (10%), credit card fraud (10.3%), and computer fraud (7.9%) [CYBER CRIME REPORT 2009]. Additional email scams included hit men scams, astrological and psychic reading scams, economic stimulus scams, job site scams, and fake pop-up for antivirus program scams.

In addition to the cyber-crime complaints that have been lodged with IC3, piracy has become a growing problem as technology advances. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was defined online piracy as "the unauthorized uploading of a copyrighted sound recording and making it available to the public, or downloading a sound recording from an internet site, even is the recording is not resold" [RIAA 2010]. The RIAA also contends that piracy includes allowing peer-to-peer (P2P) programs to use part of an individual's computer hard drive to store copyrighted songs that others can access and download. Penalties for being prosecuted for copyright infringement, for first time offenders, can include up to five years in prison and/or $250,000 fine. Civil penalties, if pursued by an organization such as the RIAA, can range from a minimum of $750 per song to thousands of dollars per song. Due to the civil lawsuits filed by the RIAA, piracy awareness rose from 35% to 72%. The RIAA has since stopped its broad-based end user litigation program [RIAA 2010].

The Internet has also facilitated the disturbing trend of cyber-bullying and cyber-harassment. Attempts to curb cyber-harassment may prove difficult as "cyber-bullies" may be anonymous and therefore, difficult to identify. In "Cyber-Bullying in Schools: A Research for Gender Differences," Qing Li states that school violence is a serious social problem that is persistent and acute during middle school [LI 2006]. Cyber-bullying, as defined by Tanya Beran and Qing Li in "Cyber Harassment: A New Method for an Old Behavior," is defined as "the repeated and intentional use of various forms of technology such as cell-phones, pagers, emails, instant messaging, and Web sites by individuals or groups to harm others" [BERAN 2005]. Cyber-bullying includes flaming, harassment, stalking, denigration, masquerade, outing, trickery, and exclusion [LI 2006]. In many cases, cyber-bullying victims can experience depression, helplessness, social incompetence, anxiety, low self-esteem, and loneliness and may exhibit impulsive behaviors and hyperactivity. A more serious result of cyber-bullying is suicide, a topic that has recently been exposed by the media due to recent suicides by cyber-bullying victims. Some of the most publicized cyber-bullying suicide victims include Megan Meier who took her life on October 16, 2006 after being harassed on MySpace by a former friend's mother, Lori Drew. Drew as subsequently indicted on the matter in 2008, but acquitted in 2009. Because of this event, legislation was passed in Missouri with the hope of preventing future cyber-bullying [CYBERBULLYING RESEARCH CENTER 2010]. Legislation was also passed in Massachusetts after Phoebe Price committed suicide on January 14, 2010. The death of Tyler Clementi on September 22, 2010 also raised the issue of cyber bullying as Clementi's suicide was the first in a series of cyber-bullying related suicides that occurred in the month of September 2010 [JAMES 2010]. Though many people spoke out against the travesty that had occurred, it is a shame that so many people had to die before the issue was brought to light. It is the responsibility of society to establish and enforce acceptable behavior.