Wetlook World Forum

I was always puzzled about how the enthusiasts for the internet, in the beginning, claimed that people could interact online without regulation when all the rest of human interaction needs a complex system of laws and lawmakers and police and lawyers and courts.....    

In the first stage, there was free interaction (albeit with personal data harvesting which we weren't really aware of at the time).    

Then in stage 2 ruthless people started taking advantage by putting unacceptable content such as child pornography online, whilst weak people started bullying others, and the internet providers were forced by public opinion to set up a system of removing harmful content.    

Now we're in stage 3, where the providers 'play safe' by defaulting to removing content in response to complaints without any independent checks or effective means of appeal, and simple-minded people (and some ruthless ones) are abusing it to pursue personal prejudices or settle personal scores or bias debate on important issues.

In stage 4, public opinion will force the setting up an independent system of laws and lawmakers and police and lawyers and courts to ensure fair treatment online, at which point it will become too expensive for the internet providers to continue under their current business models, and much of the free content will disappear (and legitimate users will have to pay much more for access).    Ye fools everywhere....