THE Internet is a result of advancements made in the area of information and communication technology (ICT). Over the past decade or so, much have been written and said with respect to ICT, in general, and the Internet, in particular.
With the increase of Internet accessibility worldwide, the world itself is becoming borderless, where geopolitical boundaries are broken down.
Doubtless the Internet brings with it a vast variety of potential, some of which remains to be tapped to the utmost. At the same time, the Internet also creates “opportunities” for irresponsible people to misuse and abuse it.
More often than not, we find debates on the Internet often focused on its negative and destructive impact. Rarely do people look at the Internet as something beneficial if and when used correctly.
Most Internet users are responsible people, using the Internet to scour for information and news updates as well as maintaining networks with other users across the geographical, political and time borders.
It has been said that “the Internet offers the promise of an information society in which virtually unlimited quantities of information are globally available; in which any individual can be an electronic Guttenberg, publishing as well as reading; in which the patterns of a civil society are redrawn and borders are rendered meaningless as people build virtual communities for work, learning and socialising across traditional boundaries of time and space”.
After all, we have to realise the fact that the Internet is a tool and if used correctly will bring about much good to many people.
In more ways than one, the Internet can be likened to a metropolitan city. In a metropolis, there are networks of highways that web across and within the city to keep its citizens connected. There are libraries, museums, galleries, archives and universities that provide great benefits to the citizens of the metropolis. However, at the same time, within the metropolis, there are small alleys and dark districts that have all the evils that one can think of.
Compare the real metropolis to the virtual metropolis that is the Internet. Vast networks of information superhighway span across the globe like a spider’s web within the Internet keeping people connected. And in the Internet, “netizens” can download various information from thousands of sites for their use and consumption. But much like the real metropolis, there lurks within the Internet “small alleys and dark districts” that house websites that go against the norms of religion and society.
It is up to the netizens to choose where to surf in the virtual world. The Internet superhighway can take a surfer virtually anywhere any time.
The choice of which website to be visited or what material to be downloaded is entirely the user’s. The deciding factor lies within the Internet user’s personal values.
If, on the one hand, the user’s values are based upon clean and pure religious and societal values, then chances are the user will not go astray into the small alleys and dark districts of the virtual metropolis.
If, on the other hand, the user is dictated by values that are against the teaching of religion and the norms of society, or rather if the user lacks the necessary positive values, then the user would most probably be visiting the so-called immoral, obscene and indecent websites.
As mentioned earlier, the Internet is only a tool in this digital day and age. We cannot go blaming the Internet if a user decides to stop by at websites that are deemed unhealthy and amoral.
The values upheld by Internet surfers determine whether or not the Internet will be used responsibly or otherwise. It is quite wrong to blame the “openness” of the Internet for the contents it houses.
The contents are uploaded into the Internet by people. Responsible people would put up responsible and useful contents. Conversely, irresponsible Internet users would use this popular ICT tool to put up irresponsible and junk contents.
Malaysia is one country that is actively promoting the use of ICT, including the Internet, in all facets of life. The issue of accessibility, among others, is being addressed by the Government. This is important in order to bridge the digital divide that exists in our society.
As much as RM5.2 billion is allocated in the Eighth Malaysian Plan for ICT-based programmes and projects. Out of this amount, RM1 billion has been earmarked to tackle the problem of the digital divide.
Programmes such as “Infodesa”, “Internet Desa”, “Global Service Provider” and providing computer facilities to rural schools are included in this effort.
The main thrust of bridging the digital divide is to enhance the ICT infrastructure — aptly dubbed “infostructure”. By the year 2005, telephone penetration rate in rural areas is expected to rise to 17.5 telephones per 100 residents. In comparison, the telephone penetration rate for the year 2000 in rural areas was 11.7 telephones for every 100 residents.
Once the problem of accessibility is addressed, then the issue of digital divide would be solved. And once this happens, more people in Malaysia will be using ICT in their day-to-day activities. One of the tools of ICT that is expected to be widely used is, not surprisingly, the Internet.
Hence, it is important that while we work towards increasing accessibility, we also could not afford to neglect the importance of instilling and inculcating the right values, particularly to future Internet users.
The target of the Eighth Malaysian Plan is to provide 8,000 schools with computers as well as Internet access to all schools. As such, students in these schools should be educated with the do’s and don’ts of the Internet.
The ethics of Internet usage, or the “netiquette”, should be made known to these students so as to provide them with the necessary protection in the wild, uncertain and to a large extent unchartered territories of the borderless world of the Internet.
Without a doubt, with greater access to the virtual world, greater challenges would surface. By equipping Internet users with the right values, these challenges would then be tackled with the necessary wisdom.
The Internet is a very, very large borderless metropolis. Without the necessary guide (read: values), then one would almost certain be lost. Worst still, a lost netizen might end up in the small alleys and dark districts of the Internet.
In order to avoid getting lost, a good traveller would always bring a map and a compass wherever he or she goes. Likewise, a good Muslim surfer should always have a map (iman or faith) and a compass (‘ilm or knowledge) handy so as to avoid the abuse and misuse of the Internet in particular and ICT as a whole.
It must be remembered that with greater access to the Internet, comes greater responsibility on the part of the Internet users.
