Michael Wynn T…

Michael Wynn

 

Technology is a great thing! Everyone loves it and it can be a big covenience as well. With technology also came social media which for some people is awsome to. The only questions I have is where is the limit? How much information should we really put into this new form of communication? Should it be controlled?

Our Nation is at a point in where the seems are ready to blow because of social media. Everyone uses this technology from your 6 year old nephew to the President of the United States. It’s fine to use this to share information with friends or keep in touch with realatives. Some people go way beyond that though. They give away every detail of their life which cannot be taken back. It isn’t like when you meet someone new and you tell them personel things about your self and hope they don’t advertise it to the world. When you post something in Face Book you have limited control over who sees it but that dos’nt mean that someone outside of your circle won’t have access to it. If you post something in You Tube you have absolutly no control over who see’s it. Its out there for the whole world to see.

The point that I am trying to make is our national security works the same way. Where is the limit? How much longer is it going to go before someone wants to control it.

Internet Censorship has been questioned many times before and in a way it makes sense sometimes. Look at all the dangers that linger around us every day because of the internet. People can be stocked by other people by the information they put out. Children are at risk of being caught in a preditor trap everytime they go on the internet. People are giving away information which terrorists can feed from. People have access to information that they should’nt like how to make a home made bomb.

A good example of the internet and national security is the movie trailer for “The Innocence of Mohammad” that was posted on You Tube. This insident caused a lot of problems on our national level. People were killed, riots and protests are still occuring both over sea’s and in country and our soldier’s are at risk while in theater. All this mayham caused by one person who probly thought he was just practicing his First Amendment Right. The only thing though, is that the “First Amendment Card” only works in the United States and there a lot of people in this world that don’t agree with it.

The DOD (Department of Defense) came up with a few ideas to try to control what service members are putting out in the social media world. One concept used now is called “OPSEC” meaning Operation Security which limits what information that could be passed into enemy hands. Service members are continously being briefed on how not to post information on line. In many cases now cameras and cell phones are actually confriscated prior to training  to prevent pictures from being posted, which could   identify unit location, size, activity and equipment.

There is a thin line between what is right and what should be controlled. There are a lot of people who do not agree with “Government Controlled Internet”, but really, is it time that maybe we should consider this?

Michael Wynn, 09/26/2012