We are all more or less familiar with “social media”. Nowadays, most of the people can be seen on the websites like Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo etc. With the contribution of social media, we can easily spread the news from one end of the world to the other. Thinking about it, I think, how far we are going!

But at the same time the question arises, how much are we aware of the ethics of technology? Many may now wonder, what is the relationship between technology and ethics? But, in fact, it’s not just the relationship that matters, a lot of people are researching and engaging with this relationship. Some people know about this, so be aware, again some have never thought about it. Today I want to talk about a very small but very important part.

As time goes on, our demand grows, and we look forward to using high-speed Internet. The era of EDGE, BroadBand, Wimax, Wifi has passed and now we are eagerly waiting for 3G technology. But why? Because, we want continuous communication, we want fast download and upload rate.

I’m fascinated by the subject myself, but, at the same time, I’m worried. Are our young people able to take advantage of the Internet and social media, or are they attracted to immoral activities? Pornography is a big curse, and with the help of multimedia mobile / mobile embedded operating software (Android, iOS, MozillaOS, etc.) we can easily get streaming media service (video upload / download or watch video) on mobile phones.

And, at the same time, pornographic websites are easily accessible. On September 17, Tehelkadatcom, an Indian newspaper published a report on rape, “The Forgotten Rape Stories”. In that report, several case studies show that rapists were watching pornographic videos on their cell phones at the time of the incident or before the incident. I don’t have any data from Bangladesh at the moment, but, I can guess, this kind of thing could have happened in Bangladesh too. However, one thing I have repeatedly noticed is taking pictures of girls, spreading them on Facebook or blackmailing them. Everything is getting easier because, with the availability of technology, appropriate policies are not being considered in government ministries.

Could it be from the debate, is watching porn videos immoral or legally punishable? Further, it could be debated whether Internet service providers could be forced by law to block sites through firewalls on proxy servers. Or is it just a matter of morality? The question remains, if this is done, what will be the reaction of the young society? We have to think about the questions. At the end of the day, we are ordinary people but receiving various internet services. So, isn’t it our responsibility to protect the ethics of using the internet?

Author: Fahria Kabir

Junior Teaching Fellow,

Asian University for A.Yemen