Final Essay

In today’s world, the usage of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is ubiquitous. However, some governments such as that of China, North Korea and Turkey have attempted to restrict the use of social media. This is primarily because they want to stop the spread of opposing views that may pose a threat to their rule. This essay will argue against such a form of control over social media. By controlling social media people would have less access to diverse views. In addition, they may be less aware of things that happen around them and there would be less of a chance to bring about changes in society. However, partially controlling social media may have its merits, for instance, by stopping the spread of hatred.

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This may result in bringing about change in society or raising awareness. A few key elements of social media make this possible. First, social media allows for information to spread rapidly. With features such as ‘share’ and ‘retweet’ buttons, one person’s post could be spread around the world in seconds. An example of this would be the current ASL Ice bucket challenge that is helping to spread awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease. According to the ALS Association, as of 29 August 2014 it has also helped raise more than a $100 million for research in less than a month. Second, it allows people to share their views under the blanket of anonymity. Therefore, people do not have to fear getting caught or punished and can openly express their views. The effects of these elements can be clearly seen in the 2010 twitter revolution during the Arab Spring. Although, there was already a deep-rooted resentment against the Arab dictatorship amongst the citizens; no one dared to openly oppose. However, as more and more started expressing their views anonymously through social media, people started to become more confident. Before long, a huge online community had been built up and citizens started to plan and coordinate protests across the Middle East. During operations, they used social media to spread accurate information quickly allowing citizens to avoid the police and to know where exactly to go. Therefore, if there had been controlled social media usage, then the revolution would have taken a lot longer and might not have been as