Evaluating Contemp. Society on the Internet

Is our contemporary society’s engagement with the Internet a positive thing that simply encourages enhanced understanding, or does it entrench us further into a virtual world where racism can go unchecked and continue to be an ongoing problem in Australia? Compare and contrast the use of this technology in Australia. Your response must use at least two examples from your everyday life and one from the textbook to support your position.

Technological development has always been an ongoing development throughout the years and one of the most well known advancements is the internet. The internet allows access for individuals to access a broad range of services and resources as well as communicating to almost anyone. Not only is the number of people accessing the internet increasing, but what the internet can do is constantly improving. However, issues such as racism and discrimination on the internet has been significantly increasing but with such advancements, offenders are able to go unchecked. As Dr Akdeniz (2010) mentions, the improvement of technology has created a new dimension to the issue of racism on the internet prompting authorities and government groups to intervene.

In Australia, a number of laws have been established in order to stop racism. Laws include Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. However, racism is different to violence. Crimes such as theft and murders are more physical crimes and are enforced by the police however, there is no enforcement for crimes like racism. Racism has been present in society for hundreds of years and is still ongoing. The internet has been a powerful new way for people to comment racial and non-racial messages without getting punished for such actions. The internet can be used to communicate with friends, allows us to keep up with current news, express a person's opinion and to create awareness. As mentioned by Aronson, these technological advances changes how networks and have a...