Academic English Writing 2 Paper
 

A picture on the internet 

The internet is an open source of information. Everyone who has access to the internet can anonymously share information1. People can share information about a person, without the person's permission. In the Amanda Todd story the specific problem was that there was a picture of Amanda Todd posted on the internet without her consent2.  This particular story is about a 15 year old girl named Amanda Todd who committed suicide after being cyber bullied. When Amanda was 13 years old she met new people online  through an online webcam chats website. One day she met a stranger who convinced her to flash her breasts through the webcam. This stranger turned out to be a paedophile who took a picture of Amanda when she flashed her breasts. One year after Amanda flashed her breasts  the paedophile threatened Amanda on the internet. He told her that if she would not give him 'another show' he would reveal the picture via the internet to everyone Amanda knows. The paedophile knew all personal details about Amanda's life, such as where she lived and where she went to school.  Eventually, the picture was sent to everyone Amanda knew, which resulted into Amanda being bullied. The bullying took place on the internet where the picture was being forwarded to others to ridicule her.  Amanda did not want the picture to be seen by anyone, but she could not do much about it. There is a saying that once something is put on the internet, it is forever on the internet, which is sadly true. Even today Amanda's picture can be found on the internet. This paper will address the problem of people posting pictures of victims without their consent. First, there is going to be an explanation about what the specific problem is that this paper is going to focus on  and why this is a problem. Secondly, there is going to be an answer to the question who is affected by the problem. Furthermore, there is going to be an answer to what the role of the internet is and if a state, internet service provider(ISP) and hosting servers can do anything about the problem. Finally, there is going to be discussed how the problem can be solved by using censorship. 

What is the problem and why is this a problem?
In the Amanda Todd story the paedophile posted a picture of Amanda's breasts on the internet without Amanda's consent. There are two kinds of problems in this case. The first problem is the fact that the picture was posted on the internet without Amanda's consent. If Amanda wanted  the picture being posted on the internet there would not be a problem. The fact that Amanda's breasts could be seen on the picture does not matter, because what really matter is if Amanda gave permission. The problem this paper is going to focus on is the second problem, which is the fact that once someone put a picture without the consent of the person involved (the victim) on the internet, this picture will always be on the internet, because there will always be people who forward it to others. There are several reasons why people share the picture with others, despite the fact that the victim does not want the picture to be seen. In the Amanda Todd story  one of these reasons was bullying. People shared the picture of Amanda just to bully her. People can post anything they want on the internet, even without the consent of the victim, which results into the picture being on the internet forever. This is a problem, because the victim did not want the picture to be shared on the internet. 

Who is affected by the problem?
Everyone regardless age, gender, race or social background can be affected by this problem3. Everyone can post a picture of anyone on the internet without the person's consent. Even relatives, friends and/or family members can be affected by a picture of someone they know that is being shared on the internet. How much other people than the victim can be affected by the picture posted on the internet, does depend on what can be seen on the picture. The Amanda Todd story concerned a picture of Amanda's breast, which is a private body part. The picture is obviously a very intimate picture, which did not only affected Amanda herself, but also affected her parents, her friends and everyone else she knew. Such intimate pictures have the power to affect not just the victim, but also the victim's relatives, friends and family members. A picture can at first be considered as an innocent picture, but later the picture can be seen as not so innocent, for example in the Dutch case: the kissing couple4. In this case the picture shows a couple kissing each other while sitting on the bench in the park. One may think this picture is nothing special, but what nobody knows is that the people who were kissing each other were actually having an affair with each other. The wife of the cheating husband saw the picture of her husband hugging another woman and of course was affected by it. It does not matter what can be seen in the picture, it can affect not just the victim, but also people the victim knows. 

What is the role of the internet? 
The internet is an open source of information, which transfers information in high speed on a big scale, where everyone can share everything they want to share. The internet does not belong to anyone and it gives people the ability to be anonymous. The internet does not contain real rules, which means that people can do anything they want5. This can be seen as a benefit of the internet, but it can also be a disadvantage of the internet, for example people can easily hurt other people by posting pictures without the consent of the victim. It is very difficult for a state to control the internet, because the internet is borderless with no central regulatory body6. 

Can the state, ISP and/or hosting server do anything about the picture what is posted on the internet without the victim's consent? 
Even though it is difficult for a state to control the internet, Qiang argues that 'the state has certain models to regulate the internet: the model of national regulation and the model of spontaneous ordering'7. The model of national regulation is when a state makes national legislation to control the internet. An example of the national regulation model is the prohibition of posting, viewing and sharing child pornography in certain states. It is prohibited by national law to post, view and share child pornography on the internet. The state tries to control the internet within the border of the state. A state can use the model of national regulation to make legislation which makes it forbidden for people to share information, including pictures, without the consent of the person involved. In some state there is already such legislation, for example in the Netherlands people have what is called 'portrait right', which means that Dutch people have the right to decide whether a picture of  themselves may be published or not, but even this right has its limitation. When the judge considers that the person on the picture is not affected in such way it harms the personal and/or private life of the person on the picture the right to decide whether a picture can be published or not does not applies anymore. The national regulation models works in a variety of context within the borders of a state, but national regulation is inherently costly and can be ineffective when the picture is for example outside of the national borders8.
The model of spontaneous ordering  is a model where the internet is seen as a self-governing realm of individual liberty9. The internet is seen as beyond the reach of government control and it does not need government control, because the internet is self-governing. If the internet is self-governing it would mean that a picture that is posted on the internet without the consent of the victim would eventually disappear. It is not possible that a picture on the internet would eventually disappear, because there will always be people who shares the picture to others. The internet needs some sort of tool to make the picture disappear. 
  The state, ISP and hosting server can use censorship as a tool to control or regulate the publishing of or access to certain information10. Censorship can be divided into two types of censorship. The first type is the non-technical censorship, which is the prohibition to do post certain content that are forbidden by national law. Another example is the possibility for victims to request ISP and hosting servers to remove or block the access to certain content or sites11. The second type is the technical censorship, which can be for example internet protocol(IP) address blocking and search result removal12. IP address blocking can be ineffective, because people can change their IP address and continue to share information with others. According to Morozov technical censorship is ineffective, because 'it is impossible to always block the same content on the internet, blocking a certain content can lead to blocking other content which are allowed to share'13. However, technical censorship can be effective for a short period of time. Technical censorship is a tool to remove or block a content, which the victim does not want to be seen on the internet, as soon as possible. 
Morozov argues that the use of non-technical as technical censorship is ineffective, because the solution is temporarily14. The internet is an open source of information where everyone can share what they want whenever they want. When one person removes or blocks a content on the internet, another person shares the same content to someone somewhere else on the internet. To regulate such an open source is time-consuming and it cost a lot of money15. However, censorship can provide as a tool to remove and block content, including pictures that are posted on the internet without the consent of the victim, for a short period of time. Censorship provides a way to remove and block certain parts of a content from the internet. Censorship gives a possibility for people to apply the right not to expose personal and private parts of their life against their will.  

The internet is an open source of information, which transfers information in high speed on a big scale, where everyone can share everything they want to share. In the Amanda Todd story a picture of Amanda Todd was posted on the internet without her consent. There are two kinds of problems in this case. The first problem is the fact that the picture was posted on the internet without Todd's consent. The second problem is the fact that once someone post a picture on the internet, even without the consent of the victim, the picture stays on the internet forever. The state can use the national regulation models, which works in a variety of context within the borders of a state, but national regulation is inherently costly and can be ineffective when the picture is outside of the national borders. The state, ISP and hosting server can use censorship as a tool to control or regulate the publishing of or access to certain information. Censorship can be non-technical and technical. Technical censorship can be ineffective, because the internet is an open source of information where everyone can share what they want whenever they want. It may not seem as a solution for the long term, but censorship still provides as a tool to defend the personal and private life of a person. 



Reference list
The New Yorker, 'The story of Amanda Todd', < http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/amanda-todd-michael-brutsch-and-free-speech-online.html> .
J. Kurbalija, 'Introduction to internet governance', Internet Governance 2009, p. 7-33.
X Qiang, 'The battle for the Chinese censorship', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol.22(2), p.47-61.
E Morozov, 'Wither internet control?', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol 22(2), p. 62-74.
Five models of internet government, Delhi: SPi 2008, p. 68.
HR 1 juli 1988, nr. 13282, Jur. 1990 (het kussende stel)
1 J. Kurbalija, 'Introduction to internet governance', Internet Governance 2009, p. 7.
2 The New Yorker, 'The story of Amanda Todd', < http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/amanda-todd-michael-brutsch-and-free-speech-online.html> .
3 J. Kurbalija, 'Introduction to internet governance', Internet Governance 2009, p. 10.
4 HR 1 juli 1988, nr. 13282, Jur. 1990 (het kussende stel).
5 J. Kurbalija, 'Introduction to internet governance', Internet Governance 2009, p. 11.
6 J. Kurbalija, 'Introduction to internet governance', Internet Governance 2009, p. 10.
7 X Qiang, 'The battle for the Chinese censorship', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol.22(2), p. 50.

8 Five models of internet government, Delhi: SPi 2008, p. 68.
9 Five models of internet government, Delhi: SPi 2008, p. 69.
10 X Qiang, 'The battle for the Chinese censorship', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol.22(2), p. 56.
11 E Morozov, 'Wither internet control?', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol 22(2), p. 64.
12 X Qiang, 'The battle for the Chinese censorship', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol.22(2), p.57.
13 E Morozov, 'Wither internet control?', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol 22(2), p. 65.

14 E Morozov, 'Wither internet control?', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol 22(2), p. 65.
15 E Morozov, 'Wither internet control?', Journal of Democracy 2011, Vol 22(2), p. 65.