The internet has been described by many to be the Wild West of the 21st century. And now it seems that the lawless unrestrained communities that have built themselves up are about to go the way the gunslingers of the past.
Just as the lawmen rode into town, the governments and corporations of the world are stepping in to clean up the place for new users. With Article 13 in the European Union possibly coming into effect within the several years, a new directive that prohibits the spread of copyrighted material and essentially “that any websites that host large amounts of user-generated content (think YouTube, Twitter and Facebook) are responsible for taking down that content if it infringes on copyright.” Along with this, the US has recently repealed net neutrality allowing Internet Service providers to throttle connection to sites unless you were to pay an extra fee to access it or have a faster connection. Couple this with sites like Tumblr adhering to the faceless corporate overlord that is Apple and removing all NSFW content in order to get back onto the app store, and create ”A better, more positive Tumblr.”
While companies and sites are trying to say that they are taking actions like this because of morals and viewpoints, they also conveniently tend to leave out that advertisers will refuse to allow their ads placed on controversial articles and videos. The largest offender of this would considered by most to be YouTube, in the sites attempt to transition to more “Family Friendly” content, they have introduced new community guidelines that are both vague yet strict at the same time causing people to be randomly flagged and demonetized causing creators to seek out help from other advertisers in order to create their content.
You then have gossip-oriented news sites that write hit-pieces on any creator who doesn't tow a specific line. Why? In order to direct more traffic to their own site by using these popular figures and try to delegitimize any semblance of credibility these creators or users may have and scare companies away from advertising on their videos or articles.
Much like how society has come to tame the West, it has once again come to tame the internet. A place where you could once find any depraved porn you want or watch Russian dash cams collisions has become a place where everything has become or will be sanitized all in the name of producing “Family Friendly” content or in layman's terms, “Advertiser Friendly” content to bring in additional revenue that the creators won’t see a lick of.
Logan Carr is a freshman studying political science at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Did you see the movie? Let Logan know by emailing him at lc300918@ohio.edu.
