Examples of harm:

1. Pornography - a lot of rapists and sexual offenders start off with pornography
2. Horror - screamers and horror movies, that traumatize people, especially children
3. Violence and gore - movies that contain excessive amounts of violence and gore
4. cyber bullying - social networks or blogs flaming or flaming through gaming
5. leaking personal information accidentally through social networks
6. false information - websites that give wrong information
7. involvement in criminal acts, such as piracy
8. Cheat money - black markets


THIS HOUSE BELIEVES THE INTERNET BRINGS
MORE HARM THAN GOOD
The Internet is a network connecting computers across the world. It has its origins in military and academic
projects dating back to the 1960s, but began to be more widely available from the end of the 1980s. The
creation of the World Wide Web (1989) and web browsers (early 1990s) gave ordinary people easy ways of
getting around the Internet. Over the past fifteen years, millions of different websites have been set up,
giving people the chance to shop, do business, play, learn and communicate online. Over the same period it
has become much easier, cheaper and faster to get online in order to do these things.
Now more than 30% of the global population have access to the Internet. Continent-wise, this breaks down
as: Europe: 58.3%, North America 78.3%, Latin America 36.2%, Africa 11.4%, Asia 23.8% and Oceania
60.1%.[1] These figures are growing all the time, as technology designed to access the Internet becomes
both more mobile and much cheaper to produce. The arrival of the Internet has vastly changed the way in
which people search and access information. News travels more quickly than ever, and current affairs can be
discussed all over the world instantaneously via forums, blogs, and social networks. Search engines like
Google and Wikipedia have now become ubiquitous starting points for researching anything from minor
queries to academic reports. Many people also maintain social links through the Internet with services such
like Facebook, Skype, and Flickr, to name but a few. Research in the UK has shown that the average adult
spends around 22 hours 15 minutes online each month.[2]
Some believe the Internet is dominating the lives of its users. Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows: How
the Internet is Changing the Way we Think, Read and Remember,[3] that all this time spend online cannot
be healthy, whereas other have cheered the increased possibilities for research, meeting new people and
keeping in contact with one another. The strongly contested debate remains as to whether the internet is an
active force for good in society or not.

POINTS FOR
POINTS AGAINST
The quality of information online cannot always be relied upon
POINT
The Internet has become a major source of information for many people. However, online information has
usually not gone through the same checks as newspaper articles, books or factual television programming.
There is a higher risk that some of the facts or quotations from a particular source in an article are false.
Whereas newspapers might lose customers if people find out they have been selling lies, a blog and other
online content can be easily created and uploaded as well as just as quickly being deleted. If people base
their opinions on the information they find online, they could well be basing their opinion on false
information. Take for example the 2006 conspiracy film Loose Change which has had millions of views. A
report from the thinktank Demos in a report titled Truth, Lies and the Internet: A Report into Young
Peoples Digital Fluency[1] state that the film contains a ...litnay of errors, misattributions, vague
insinuations, subtle misquotes, and outright falsehoods... Since the Internet gives equal space to material
of greatly varying quality, the degree to which the internet can been viewed as being a total force for good
is drawn into question. If an informed society is an empowered society it therefore stands to reason that a
misinformed society is disempowered society.
[1] Bartlett and Miller, Truth, Lies and the Internet. A Report into Young Peoples Digital Fluency. 2011
COUNTERPOINT
The Internet gives millions of people access to information they would not otherwise have had, which is a
huge benefit. People who read the news, offline or online, are not inherently dupable, they like all people
do not simply accept messages they are, to varying degrees, critical of what they read and not simply
passive. When people spend a lot of time reading online content they can differentiate between bloggers
who are untrustworthy or extremely biases from bloggers who carefully refer to legitimate sources. The
problem of bad information in news-making is not unique to the Internet; there are lots of trashy
magazines and poorly researched news content in traditional print channels of communication as well. We
learn in formal education to double-check our sources and not believe everything we read, and we can
apply that skill while surfing the Internet.
It is not enough to say that the internet contans falsehoods to dismiss the value of the internet. All
mediums contain falsehoods whether intentional or unintentional but there is a much broader picture that
needs to be considered in terms of the ability of the internet to provide people with freedom of expression
and freedom of information, if it being a free for all has the downside of some falsehoods then thaty is a
price worth paying.

The Internet is a threat to privacy
POINT
Everyones privacy can be greatly harmed by the Internet. Some websites store information. Some ask us
to fill in information which can be sold to other sites for commercial purposes. As the Internet gains more
and more users the temptation for criminals to gain our private information becomes greater. Hackers can
hide their true location when engaging in illegal activities online, so the likelihood of their being brought to
justice is low. Whenever people post something online, it becomes almost impossible to erase, and with
the proliferation of social networks posting personal information online is becoming second nature, this is a
dangerous precedent. Take for example the posting of our locations online via geotagging, this for many is
an action which doesnt take much consideration, however, to demonstrate the danger of this designer
Barry Borsoom setup the website PleaseRobMe.com which would grab geocaching data and tell people
when a persons house was potentially empty.[1]
With the aid of the Internet then, we are symbolically sleepwalking into a big brother style existence, in an
information age all data about ourselves is an important asset and one which needs defending. The
infringement and degradation of our privacy as a side-result of the Internet should be of great concern,
and it is potentially one of the most detrimental effects the Internet could have on society.

COUNTERPOINT
Privacy online is a big concern, but an educated citizen can navigate the Internet in a safe and sensible
manner with minimal privacy issues, although as with being offline a the threat of crime can never be
entirely eliminated. When we go online no-one forces the user to share private information, it is
volunteered by the user in exchange for a free service, it is often a small price to pay for the services that
can be received in return, such as free e-mail or free webspace. Of course privacy can be infringed in other
ways, by unlawful access to personal files for example, but if protection such as firewalls are setup and
users are careful about what they download privacy online can be easily maintained. It is misleading to say
we are sleeping walking into a big brother existence, it gives in impression that the effect the Internet is
having on society is conspiratorial, this is clearly not the case, people like the way the Internet can bring
people all over the world together. Privacy is no more of a problem online than privacy is in the offline
world, the issue is being overstated by the proposition.

The Internet has allowed a large amount of criminal, offensive and
discriminatory information to be easily accessed.
POINT
The ability for anyone to be able to publish anything online without barriers resulted in a large amount of
information which could not only be incorrect but could also be criminal, offensive or discriminatory if it
were available to the general public. This sort of information would not usually be widely published via
offline channels, but with the advent of the Internet it is very easily accessible by anyone like never before,
and this is a dangerous president. A cavalcade of propaganda from extremist groups such as religious
zealots or Neo-Nazis for example can be accessed by anyone around the world. This is dangerous as
vulnerable people could easily be taken in and exploited if the discovered this material. It is quite often
found that lone-wolf terrorists, for example, have gotten their information and inspiration from the
Internet. Garry Reid, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating
Terrorism in the USA states that Enabled by 21st-century technology, extremists have optimized the use
of Internet chat rooms, Web sites and e-mail chains to spread their virulent messages and reach a global
audience of potential recruits.[1] But it is not only terrorists who are utilizing the Internet at a detriment
to society. Various reports have linked a sharp rise in paedophilia with the growth of the Internet[2] as it is
an easy and often anonymous way to share such material with the world. The ability for anyone to publish
anything online could clearly do considerable harm to society, which would have otherwise been much less
prevalent and easier to control and regulate.
COUNTERPOINT
Freedom of information should mean freedom of all types of information, even if it is extreme propaganda
from fringe groups such as neo-Nazis or Al-Qaeda. The public must be trusted to be able to make its own
decisions on the value of such texts. What is great about the Internet is that points of view that would not
necessarily get much publicity in traditional media can be aired and discussed online, from serious issues
such as capital punishment to less serious ones like aliens. Of course one of the downfalls of such freedom
is that illegal content such as child pornography can be made available in a way which it could not have
before, but highlighting this issue is not entirely fair as it is greatly outweighed by the information available
online that is perfectly fine and legal. This does not of course excuse the publication of such images. It is,
however, a slight misnomer to suggest that the Internet is entirely free from the restraints of law. In issues
of legality, governments can take action: they can either trace the origin of the images or force web space
providers and ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to take down the content. On the whole, having ready
access to such a large amount of information, and being able to freely add and discuss it, is beneficial to
society, because it is both liberating and educational.



POINTS AGAINST
The Internet has increased economic and creative prosperity in a leveled
way
POINT
The Internet has brought greater prosperity, allowing not only established business more distribution
channels over a wider geographical area but it has also allowed individuals through e-bay, for example,
and small independent businesses to flourish. This has brought a lot more choice to ordinary people, and
also driven down prices as people find it easier to compare different companies products. The main
advantage to small businesses is that they can cheaply set up online and find a global market for their
goods and services. By making it easier to work anywhere with an Internet connection, the internet has
also allowed many more people to work from home and to share projects with co-workers across the whole
world which has allowed for greater economic efficiencies.
The Internet has also provided a cheap and wide-reaching platform for independent creative people to
share and distribute their work. This is done via self-promotion similar to small business, in the form of
digital portfolios and self-hosted blogs as well as sharing content more generally, take for example the vast
array of independent movies gets regularly posted to video-hosting websites such as Vimeo. The Internet
has given anyone creative equal footing by which to compete as everyone has the potential to reach the
same global audience.
improve this

COUNTERPOINT
The Internet has certainly allowed many new small businesses and independent creative people to win
international exposure at a low price. However, the Internet is, on the whole, dominated by big companies
taking most of the business while smaller organizations struggle. The Internet has in fact damaged
independents more than it has helped, as offline shops struggle to compete with the financial savings of
operating entirely online. This is also true for art and other creative pursuits, because independent offline
art projects are being harmed by the convenience of simply posting work online digitally. The economic
benefits being spoken of do exist, but they favor the already powerful conglomerates over independents, as
those conglomerates can use their vast income base to dominate. It is especially bad when these big
companies migrate online, because they shred important jobs, to the detriment of society. The lowered
barrier to entry means that anyone can setup business online, but on the whole the majority will struggle
to survive and only a rare few will flourish.

The Internet helps to bring communities and the world closer together.
POINT
With the ability for anybody to easily and quickly share rich information online, via a whole host of tools,
the Internet serves bring people together. Firstly take for example social networks. Friends can remain
connected to each other when miles apart. People can maintain and even create friendships without the
barrier of geography. Additionally, social networks have a capacity to distribute news in a timely and
targeted manner, directed at the people whom it mostly concerns, that is far greater than that of
traditional media cannot compete. Secondly there are many instances of hyper-local news communities
springing up online in which people can truly engage in their community, and help improve it. This model
can and is extended to bigger areas, helping to engage society for its greater good. For example
Fillthathole.org.uk, provides a nationwide portal for U.K. citizens to report road potholes. Thirdly the
Internet brings the world together by not only encouraging direct communication with people from other
countries, but also by being able to share and distribute information in a way which traditional forms of
communication could not do.
\

COUNTERPOINT
This image of the Internet drawing people being closer together is simply an illusion. Sitting in front of
computers rather than getting out in the world in fact isolates people from one another. Some academics
argue that narcissism is the glue that keeps social networks together.[1] If people didnt believe that their
views were important and needed to be heard, then social networks would be unable to function. Social
networks encourage people to express what they are doing rather than reading what others have to say. If
people want to feel integrated into their communities, they should get out and about and do something
active for it. Complaining about things online will not result in direct action solving the problem. Although it
is true that people all over the world are now theoretically able to communicate with one another more
easily, that is not how the Internet is actually used most of the time. Many Internet users either read
digitized versions of traditional information sources, and when they are on social networking sites, they
engage most often with real-life friends, with whom they could easily spend face-to-face time. Language is
the other major barrier to worldwide integration. While there are translation tools online, most people
online will stick to communicating in their native language, and this is particularly true of English speakers.
The idea that the Internet is bringing new people together is on the whole a myth.






All the Yes points
1. The internet has become a major source of information for many people. However, online information ...
2. Everyones privacy is greatly harmed by the internet. We can quickly see what politicians and celeb...
3. You can choose any identity you want when you are online. Many people hide behind profiles they hav...
4. Many people are just addicted to the internet. They cant stop browsing, they are hooked on gaming ...
5. Since the nineties, instant messaging and emailing has been used to extract passwords, bank account ...
6. The internet has allowed big companies to capture a lot of business online while smaller, local comp...
All the No points

Internet, brings more harm than good
Yes because...
The internet has become a major source of information for many people. However,
online information ...
The internet has become a major source of information for many people. However, online information has
usually not gone through the same checks as newspaper articles or books. There is a higher risk that some
of the facts or quotations from a particular source in an article are false. Whereas newspapers might lose
customers if people find out they gave been selling lies, a blog can be easily deleted. If people base their
opinions on information they find online, they could well be basing their opinion on false facts. Since the
internet gives equal space to material of greatly varying quality, this is a serious risk.
No because...
The internet gives millions of people access to information they would not otherwise have had, which is a
huge benefit. And people who read the news online are not that easy to fool. Especially when you spend a lot
of time online, you can tell bloggers who just want to shout from bloggers who carefully refer to their sources.
The type of people this argument worries about are not the type of people that read high quality newspapers
in the first place, they would read the trashy ones. The problem of bad information and news making is not
unique to the internet; there are lots of trashy magazines as well. We learn in schools to double-check our
sources and not believe everything we read, and we can apply that skill whilst surfing the internet.



Internet, brings more harm than good
Yes because...
Everyones privacy is greatly harmed by the internet. We can quickly see what
politicians and celeb...
Everyones privacy is greatly harmed by the internet. We can quickly see what politicians and celebrities are
doing when the paparazzi posts news pictures online, but people can also see what weve been doing. Some
sites store information. Some ask us to fill in information which can be sold to other sites for commercial
purposes. Once we post something online, it is almost impossible to erase it from the net. For example, if I
break up with a person, they can take revenge and post embarrassing photos of me online. There have been
numerous court cases where a woman demanded that her ex remove some privately taken photos from a
dating site, so that she would be left alone. Unfortunately, the law cannot protect your right to privacy in this
area.
No because...
You are the first and most important person to protect your own privacy. Dont fill in private information, if you
dont want people to know about it. There are laws protecting you from websites that just sell on your
information, but if you give personal information out without being sure that it will be properly used you only
have yourself to blame.
Internet, brings more harm than good
Yes because...
You can choose any identity you want when you are online. Many people hide
behind profiles they hav...
You can choose any identity you want when you are online. Many people hide behind profiles they have
made up. They start making nasty remarks on public forums or chat rooms. They would never have normally
said these things, but because they can hide behind an identity they start upsetting and hurting others. Even
though other people can try to stop them from this behaviour, their warnings are not as effective as a warning
from someone you know very well, like a friend, a parent or a teacher. The internets anonymity allows them
to show sides of themselves that, for good reasons, they normally wouldnt have shown. This increases the
risk that, because they get away with it online, they show similar behaviour in their real life. This harms
everyone.

No because...
Against this group of people who misbehave online is a group of people who have finally found individuals
with similar mindsets. Not everyone likes the same things and the more unusual your preferences, the harder
it will be to find friends. The internet has finally given many people a place where they can be themselves,
and where they can meet likeminded people. It is a great relief for them that they do not have to fear being
discovered by people they know.\
You cannot let a small group of badly behaved people ruin the freedom of many others. We should work on
creating better policies to deal with rude people, but we should not go back to the old situation where people
who are different in some way end up feeling isolated and lonely.\
Internet, brings more harm than good
Many people are just addicted to the internet. They cant stop browsing, they are
hooked on gaming ...
Yes because...
Many people are just addicted to the internet. They cant stop browsing, they are hooked on gaming and they
spend too much time indoors. Instead of going out for a walk or play outside, they sit behind their computers
for hours. A sad consequence of the addiction is that they are so used to high speed information by just
clicking on the next link that they can no longer appreciate a good book, or a nice conversation with a friend.
By failing to take exercise they grow fat and unhealthy. Their family life suffers and their only relationships
are online they cant cope in the real world.
No because...
There is nothing wrong with sitting indoors. Its better to sit indoors and actively research and surf online than
to sit in front of a television and passively take in what the TV company decided you should watch. 20 years
ago people used to worry kids spent too much time inside watching TV, but viewing hours have dropped as
people choose to use the internet instead. There are lots of educational games and news sites we can
browse around and learn from in much more effective way than television could ever provide. Furthermore,
many people keep up their social contacts online. Saying they cannot appreciate a nice conversation, or a
good book is just a wild claim.
Internet, brings more harm than good
Yes because...
Since the nineties, instant messaging and emailing has been used to extract
passwords, bank account ...
Since the nineties, instant messaging and emailing has been used to extract passwords, bank account
details or credit card numbers. This phenomenon is called phishing. A phisher uses professional-looking
websites and profiles, and tens of thousands of people have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to
phishers. If we could better control who contacts us, this would not have happened on such a large scale.
No because...
It is unfortunate that people who are willing to help have been abused by others. However, there have been
many campaigns that raise awareness about phishing. Governments and banks have provided guidelines
about how to recognize phishers. We should firmly deal with the crime of phishing, but not forget how much
easier our life has become now that we can do our financial business online and via bank cards.
Internet, brings more harm than good
Yes because...
The internet has allowed big companies to capture a lot of business online while
smaller, local comp...
The internet has allowed big companies to capture a lot of business online while smaller, local companies
have lost out. And because the internet makes it easier to get work done abroad, jobs have left many
western countries for low-wage countries abroad.
No because...
The internet has brought greater prosperity, allowing lots of different businesses to set up online. This has
brought a lot more choice to ordinary people, and also driven down prices as people find it easier to compare
different companies products. Small businesses can cheaply set up online and find a market for their goods
and services. And by making it easier to work anywhere with an internet connection, it has allowed many
more people to work from home and to share out projects with co-workers over the whole world.
Debates > Internet, brings more harm than good