Domestic Spying and Social Media - Essay Example

Hassan ALfahker Nowak, Erin Writing, 150 NOV-19 Privacy The advancement in social media and the information technology has opened numerousplatforms for young people to share ideas. Social networks, including the Facebook® and twitter, have become popular means of interaction, especially among the youths in the recent past (Salerno78). People used to communicate with each other by writing letters, but now they can communicate easily by using Facebook® and Twitter. Millions of youths access these social networks every minute and share information containing varied content. It has been said that 27.8% of Americans use social media for a top new source (Procon.org). The government and other influential people have been very vocal in monitoring social networks, arguing that it helps the government understand how the public is receiving its policies and practices (Rennie). For instance, the UK government has responded to a law suit brought to court by a civil rights agent about privacy by saying that the government has a right to carry out what they call legal spying. (Queally, Para 1). Americans are also not left behind. According to Damon (Para 1), the US government is working with social media companies to plan for back-doors to help government spy in peoples social media accounts. This shows that governments are increasingly looking to spy on people’s live through social media. Although there may be an advantage for allowing the government to access personal information for investigation purposes, the problem is that this is prone to abuse. At the same time, the basic principle of justice and liberty require that the freedom of an individual should not be scarified, not even when it is for the good of the public. In this regard, the government should look for alternative ways to do their investigation, and not interfere with the private lives of everybody else. No one should ever have the moral authority to interfere with people’s privacy, not even for the sake of national security. I believe that it is obscene for the government to look through people’s private information on social networks and phones because this goes against the constitutional right that guarantees privacy of individuals. Invading people’s privacy on the social networks and mobile phones by the government is a heinous practice that might result in illogical judgment about the social networks users. For example, most young people use the social media for dating and organizing youth oriented events. The dating language might look immoral to the government and parents, but the sender and recipients are very okay with it because that is their informal language of communication. In addition, the words used by youths to express themselves on social media sometimes have quite different meaning from the actual dictionary meaning. This could lead to false statistics about teens. A government that keeps on monitoring private information on phones and social networks will prevent the youths from expressing their individuality. It is against the human rights provisions any public authority, including the government, to interfere with an individual privacy. Everyone has the right to expression and therefore surveillance of private information on social media and mobile phones by the government violates, the freedom of expression. For example, some government officials surveying private information in the social networks may fall in love with someone’s fiancée and thereby pressure for a breakup in order to seize the opportunity and occupy the space left. Some people put all their details on their profiles on the social networks and access to such information by the government might make the information lead to serious violation of privacy and personal liberty (Bezzi 29). Some government officials are very corrupt and may seize the opportunity of surveying private information of individuals to con the members of the public. For instance, some officers in the government might hide their identity and ask for money from a couple since they can access all the relevant information required to play with their psychic. Actually, government invasion to people’s privacy on social media is an illicit and heinous practices since social network users will be exposed to different kinds of dangers such as kidnapping, rape and mugging. Additionally, people in the same sex marriages will be exposed and then ruin their reputation. They may even be thrown in jail since in some states gay marriage is illegal. Consequently, the government might use such parameters as social media to discriminate people along tribal or racial lines and result in poor service delivery to the public. People have different taste and preferences regarding various issues of life. According to Agosto what one person considers being normal and morally upright, might be considered abnormal and immoral by another person (68). Therefore, when the government is comparing these two situations, it might be irrational in making final judgment and end up being bias on one side. Regarding to this, the government should never control the usage of social networks so that privacy of person and national integrity can be maintained. This is because if people are aware that they are being spied, they will not be able to be themselves and they have to keep watching their back all the time. Government involvement in surveying private information on social platforms will contribute to poor work relations between workers in government offices and agencies (Nissenbaum 65). For instance, workers use social media platforms to discuss the behavior or mode of addressing of their bosses. If such information leaks to the bosses, the workers might be fired or made to work under unbearable conditions. For instance, if the boss puts on a torn shoe and a tetrad suit, the workers might ridicule the code of dressing via the social networks without the boss’s notice. However, with the government invasion to privacy on social media and phones, such information might lead to the organization’s management and lead to poor employee to employer relationship. If the government uses this data in a wrong way, it may lead to severing of relationship between people such as between bosses and their employees because the boss may know too much information about the employee thus leading to a change in attitude. On the other hand, government involvement on social media is sometimes needed. Social networking monitoring can help the government catch and prosecute criminals (procon.org). In Cincinnati, law enforcements have used social media to catch local gang members. In such a case, it can be argued that the use of government spying on social media can have some good aspects to it. Since criminals are likely to talk about their activities on social media because they do not think anyone is listening, this can be used to arrest and charge criminals. "A lot of people like to brag about what they do," said Keating, a Real time Crime Center and Specialist (Graham). So the law enforcements teamed up with the University of Cincinnati to go through the data posted. Once in the spotlight of the Cincinnati Police department, they will do anything in their power to find out the information that they need. In conclusion, privacy on social networks is essential to enhancing peace and unity among members of a country. Government involvement with the surveillance of personal details on social networks and mobile phones is an invasion to personal privacy and should never be encouraged. People should be left to explore social networks without government surveillance. Government intervention prevents people from enjoying the fun of social networks. Until the government fully gives the freedom of privacy, be careful what you post on social media, you never know who may be looking. Works Cited Damon, Andre. Domestic Spying and Social Media: Google, Facebook “Back Doors” for Government Wiretaps. 09 May 2009. 01 December 2014 . Queally, Jon. Mass Spying on Users of Social Media Totally Legal, says UK Government. 17 June 2014. 01 December 2014 . Agosto, Denise E. Teens, Libraries, and Social Networking: What Librarians Need to Know. Santa Barbara, Calif: Libraries Unlimited, 2011. Print. Bezzi, Michele. Privacy and Identity Management for Life: 5th IfipWg 9.2, 9.6/11.7, 11.4, 11.6/primelife International Summer School, Nice, France, September 7-11, 2009 : Revised Selected Papers. New York: Springer, 2010. Print. Nissenbaum, Helen. Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2010. Print. Salerno, John. Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction: 4th International Conference, Sbp 2011, College Park, Md, Usa, March 29-31, 2011: Proceedings. Berlin [etc.: SpringerLink, 2011. Print. ProCon.org. "Social Networking ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 23 Sep. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. Graham, Gordon. “Police Use Social Media to Catch Criminals” Fox19.com.05 Sep. 2012.Web. 22Oct. 2014. Rennie, Steve “Social Media to be Monitored by Federal Governments” The Canadian Press. 29 Nov 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. Read More