Jan 30, 2010
Relax, it's just the Internet version of coffee shop talk
I REFER to Tuesday's letter by Mr Keith Gerard Tan, 'New ugly Singaporean', and Mr Lionel De Souza's response on Wednesday, 'Keyboard warriors? New ugly Singaporeans are more like cyber terrorists'.
The term 'Web defacement', or rather the defacing of a webpage, has a completely different meaning. Web defacement is an attack on a website, typically by system hackers, who replace the website they attack with one of their own. Web defacement is illegal and carries a potential prison sentence.
'Keyboard warrior' was a term forged in the Internet age to describe someone who expresses his feelings (mostly anger), thoughts and beliefs online.
On top of this, the cyber warriors who are the main target of Mr Tan do not frequent websites. They are commonly found on online forums and chatrooms, and their very existence is to exchange views and voice thoughts, be they coherent or not.
I am not sure if Mr Tan knows the expression, but I am sure Mr De Souza is familiar with the term 'coffee shop talk', a term coined long ago to describe political comments made over coffee in traditional coffee shops.
Now in the modern age, we should understand we have the tools to express ourselves on a more powerful platform, that of the Internet, and comments will cover the whole spectrum and may even be of an extreme nature.
Having said that, it saddened me that Mr Tan took something that is fundamental to human rights and the human condition - to express one's unhappiness - and somehow married that to Web defacement, a criminal activity. This makes me wonder if it is such a heinous crime in Mr Tan's eyes to express unhappiness with government policies that it is now comparable to a criminal offence.
What is even more worrying is that Mr De Souza, a known security expert, states that keyboard warriors are hiding behind the cloak of anonymity when they are not. In fact, extremists have been snuffed out and tried in court, so there is no anonymity and everyone is and will be held accountable for what he says.
Chai Shiew Chee
I REFER to the letter by Chai Shiew Chee 'Relax, it's just the Internet version of coffee shop talk' on saturday. According to Chai Shiew Chee, the people who express their ideas and thoughts including all the positive and negetive ones on the internet should not be treated as kinds of criminal activities. She insists that the right of expressing their thoughts should always be protected here in Singapore. She thought the original letter's author, Mr Keith Gerard Tan, 'New ugly Singaporean', and Mr Lionel De Souza 'Keyboard warriors? New ugly Singaporeans are more like cyber terrorists' should not treat the foundamental human right of expressing their ideas as the criminal activity.
I AGREE with Ms Chai's idea about this. I think to say whatever you want is a basic human right that protected by the law of constitution in Singapore and even all the modern countries all over the world. If you treat those people as a kind of 'web defacement' and forbid them to speak online, the freedom of speaking will no longer have the meaning that it should have. This is a common sense of all the Internet users around the world. But as a precondition of speaking online, what you want to say should obey the law of the residence country. You should not say whatever you want online and that may cause a very bad panic and maybe other bad results on the internet. In conclusion, there should be a restrict line of the content of what you are about to say. This will make you a 'keyboard warrior' instead of a 'web defacement'.
posted by Eric
I agree with Eric’s idea that human should have the right to speak freely. However, rights can only be guaranteed with the execution of responsibility. Chatting on line is rather differenet from coffee shop talk in this sense.
回复删除On the Internet, some people are more relieved and irresponsible to their thoughts and words they use, because no matter what they say, especially bad words, they need not be afraid of leaving a bad impression of their own on the reader, with the help of virtual identity. The fact that online words do no harm to fame in the real world offer some people the condition of speaking whatever they want ‘freely’, without considering any side effects that may have on society.
I believe that people should pay more attention to their behaviors online and if anyone disobeys the responsibility they should have, their rights to express their ‘opinions’ should be deprived of, on behalf of the majority of internet users.
Posted by Mengyi
I agree with Eric, people have freedom to talk on line.However there need to be some limitations. Freedom is built on restriction, otherwise the Internet will be in a mess. People who surf online could lose their sense of safety for such a www in disorder. Nowadays, people hide their identity and speak out without responsibility,this cause harm to the harmony of the society. Many rumors and gossip spread with a astroning speed, Actually, many of them are nonsense. many people are cheated and have no chance to keep in touch with the fact. Who we can believe worth asking
回复删除from Rainy
First, I need to speak highly of Eric’s reflection which is logical and supported by sufficient evidences in this matter. Besides Eric’s opinion, I want to add more. It is acknowledged that forbidding the human right to speak freely on the internet is ridiculous as anyone can create an ID easily and post his opinions. However, on the internet, there should be certain regulations which guarantee a peaceful environment for majority who may be influenced by rumors because it is not rare to see fake announcements causing panic, like spreading Bugis riot in Jan,2009. Maybe such rules have been set, but they are not taken seriously as they are not as popular and strict in punishment as the public sign of smoking fine. No one was born evil. All of website users can be leaded as in the early 1960s in Singapore. So government can try to make suitable and doable regulations and punishments and spread it to the public.
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