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There has always been a debate about whether the internet is a form of liberation or oppression. Tim Jackson address this very issue in his article "A Prisoner of Hope in Cyberspace." Jackson argues that "New media is a force of both liberation and oppression." This means that new technologies such as the Internet can be very liberating. They open up channels for us to speak out agains oppressiona nd wrong doing, however, at the same time they also allow more opportunity for the government to limit us, by placing new laws or regulating speech. This is demonstrated in The Matrix during the scene when Morpheus explains the history of the world and tells Neo what the matrix is. Morpheus says the matrix is "control. A computer generated dreamworld built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this [a battery]." He explains that when artificial intelligence was created, the machines took over the world. They grew and harvested human beings, and created the matrix for them to mentally exist in. They use the matrix to control the minds of the humans. Artificial intelligence was created with joy by the humans. They thought it would be very liberating and they celebrated its arrival, but to their surprise, artificial intelligence became the oppressor instead of the liberator.
We should all learn from this extreme example. Whatever liberates us also has the power to oppress us.
In his article, "Technologies of the Self: Foucault and Internet Discourse," Alan Aycok also address the issue of oppression. He says, "One of the most common themes in popular computing literature is that computers and the Internet are making us strong, smart, fast, and free." He states this ironically as he goes on to describe a message that pops up on his screen. The message says, "Use of this system by unauthorized users is prohibited." This is just one example of how we can become oppressed by the internet.
Do you know who is watching you? |
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