Unlike anything the world had seen so far. This new technology was propelled by a lot of promises but the shiniest was definitely the sense of newfound freedom. Back then, the internet was going to democratize knowledge, enable collaboration with people from all over the world, and provide the means to communicate with anyone. Seeing all that from today’s perspective, it’s impossible not to feel slightly embarrassed by all that naiveté.
From powerful groups fighting
Net neutrality and the fake news boom c level contact list to the rise of online harassment and the colossal privacy concerns, the internet of 2020 looks more like a battlefield. Some might argue that these things are, in part, a consequence of freedom. You might not agree with online bullies but at least they are exercising their freedom of speech, right? Well, things are more complicated than that.
In a tech-driven world
Where technology has taken the center anyone would be free to murder stage, approaching crucial ethical dilemmas like this one should be done in a more serious manner. With that said, it’s important if we start discussing the implications all technologies are having (and will have) on our lives. That’s especially true for freedom, one of the fundamental values of our societies. What’s Freedom, Anyway? If you were to answer that question without googling it up, you’d probably say that being free is being able to act, speak, or think as you want without any external influence.
That’s what most people think
Anyway – even when that kind of freedom whatsApp number doesn’t (nor couldn’t) exist in reality. How so? While being able to do all that without further consequences might sound appealing, it negates the complexities of real life. We live in a society, which means that we constantly interact with other people that should, in theory, also enjoy the same freedom as we do.