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Does Internet Censorship Reduce Crime Rate?

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Does Internet Censorship Reduce Crime Rate? CommIT (Communication and Information Technology) Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 35–44 DOES INTERNET CENSORSHIP REDUCE CRIME RATE? Erwin Bramana Karnadi Department of Economic Development, Faculty of Business Communication and Economics, Atma Jaya University Jakarta 12390, Indonesia Email: [email protected] Abstract—The study examines the relationship between In Section III, we discuss several approaches that Internet censorship and crime rate. Classical views of can be used to estimate the relationship between In- censorship suggest that filtering contents that are per- ternet censorship and crime rate. We consider several ceived as negative such as violence and pornography can have a negative impact on crime rate. However, there is methods such as OLS, fixed effects and 2SLS, but we no evidence to suggest any causal relationship between decide to settle on OLS method. In Section IV, we censorship and crime rate. The Internet has made it talk about the obtained data regarding their sources easier for individuals to access any information they and measurements. Furthermore, we discussed reasons want, and hence Internet Censorship is applied to filter why we wanted to include the obtained variables to contents that are deemed negative. We discussed several approaches that may be used to estimate the relationship our model. between Internet Censorship and Crime Rate, and we In Section V, we estimate the relationship between decided to use OLS. We found that Conflict Internet Internet Censorship variable and Crime Rate variable Censorship is the only type of Internet censorship that using OLS. We conclude that only conflict Internet has a significant negative impact on Crime Rate. Further- Censorship variable is likely to have an impact on more, it only significantly affects Crime Rate for highly educated countries. Crime Rate variable. Furthermore, we introduce sev- Keywords: Internet Censorship; Crime Rate; Educa- eral interaction variables between each of the Internet tion; Conflict Censorship Censorship variables and a high education dummy. I. INTRODUCTION We find that the impact of Internet penetration and censorship are more significant for highly educated The debate for and against censorship has been countries. In Section VI, we summarize our results and going on for decades. By removing contents that are stated several limitations of our analysis. deemed inappropriate, it is reasonable to suggest that censorship may be able to control a person’s behavior, II. LITERATURE REVIEW including his or her likeliness to participate in crime. However, it is questionable whether or not the impact A. What is Internet Censorship? of censorship is significant enough, and censorship is Internet censorship refers to the act of filtering not without its disadvantages. With the introduction of and controlling what can be accessed on the Internet, the Internet, everyone can access any information in usually done by the government to control the public. an instant, and thus Internet censorship was born to There are several approaches to Internet censoring control the information that is shared on the World (Ref. [1]): Wide Web. • Technical Blocking. Technical Blocking simply In Section II, we discuss about the definition of refers to the act of blocking access to Internet Internet censorship, its advantages and disadvantages. sites such as IP blocking, DNS tampering, and Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical relationship URL blocking using a proxy. This also includes between Internet censorship and crime rate. We argue keyword blocking, which is a method used to that although it is reasonable to suggest that Internet block access to sites that have specific words in censorship has a negative impact on crime rate, there their URLs. is no sufficient evidence to suggest that claim. • Search Result Removals. Search Result Removals Received: March 18, 2015; received in revised form: April 21, is a common censorship approach applied by In- 2015; accepted: May 12, 2015; available online: June 17, 2015. ternet search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Cite this article as: E. B. Karnadi, “Does internet censorship reduce crime rate?,” CommIT Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 35–44, 2015. Instead of blocking access to specific sites, this no sufficient evidence to suggest that children approach makes finding them much more difficult. can differentiate credible information from non- In many cases, this is used to make finding pirated credible ones. This can be dangerous as biased contents much harder to do. and incorrect information can affect a child’s • Takedown. The takedown approach simply de- perspective in a very significant way. mands specific sites to be removed from the • It protects individuals from contents that can be Internet. deemed inappropriate such as pornography. Be- • Induced Self-censorship. In many cases, individu- sides religious and ethical reasons, pornography als will stay away from several websites that may may have negative impacts towards young men question the authorities, even when these sites are and women, as they are more likely to engage in not restricted e.g. porn sites that include child risky sexual behaviors when they are exposed to pornography. high-level of pornography (Ref. [3]) Furthermore, Ref. [1] divided Internet censorship • It battles piracy by blocking contents that may into four types based on their themes: violate intellectual property rights. • Political Internet Censorship. Political Internet • It protects individuals from online scams. Censorship includes censoring contents related to • It can protect individuals from cyber-bullying, views that oppose the current political regime. cyber-racism, cyber homophobia and cyber- Censorship regarding to contents related to hu- sexism (Ref. [4]). man rights, minority rights, religious movements However, Internet censorship is not without any and freedom of speech are also included in this disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages include: group. Countries with high-level Political Internet • It limits freedom of speech. According to Ref. [5], Censorship include Vietnam and Uzbekistan. the Computer Crime Act in Thailand has been • Social Internet Censorship. Social Internet Cen- criticized for its excessive Internet censorship. sorship includes censoring contents that are • It gives government too much power and control deemed inappropriate by several religious or po- over information. This has been considered as a litical groups, such as pornography, violent ma- huge issue in China, as it may delay the radical terials, gambling websites and any other contents change that China needs (Ref. [6]). that may not be suitable for children. Countries C. How Internet Censorship May Relate to Crime with high-level Social Internet Censorship include Rate? Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. • Conflict (Security) Internet Censorship. Conflict The possible relationship between Internet censor- Internet Censorship deals with contents including ship and crime rate stems from the relationship be- separatist movements, border issues and any other tween crime rate and media censorship in general. The military movements that may jeopardize the secu- classical notion argued by most people is that violence rity and safety of the country. Countries with high- and pornography in media have significant impacts on level Conflict Internet Censorship include China an individual’s violent behavior. However, a study by and South Korea. Ref. [7] concluded that there is no sufficient evidence • Internet Tools Censorship. Internet Tools Censor- to suggest any relationship between media violence ship covers blocking and censoring tools that are effects and violent crime. Furthermore, Ref. [8] argued used by Internet users such as e-mail, Internet that pornography does not lead to an increase in violent hosting, translation, search engines and any other sexual behavior. communication tools that use the Internet. Coun- The Internet takes information sharing to a different tries with high-level Internet Tools Censorship level, and its introduction to the public makes media include Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. censorship so much more complicated. With the In- ternet, any individual can access any information they B. Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Censor- want, and without any restrictions these information ship include child pornography, drug market and any other The debate in censorship has never been resolved, contents that are not only deemed inappropriate but and it only amplifies after the introduction of the are also expected to increase criminal intent. Along Internet. There are several advantages of Internet cen- with Internet usage, Internet censorship has also been sorship: increasing and it is gaining attention from scholars • It protects individuals from incorrect and bi- from different disciplines such as media and commu- ased information. According to Ref. [2] there is nication, information technology, law, political science 36 Cite this article as: E. B. Karnadi, “Does internet censorship reduce crime rate?,” CommIT Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 35–44, 2015. and economics (Ref. [9]). In the next section, we are Taking these variables into account, we consider the going to use several approaches that can be used to following equation: inspect the relationship between Internet censorship and crime rate. crimei = β0 + β1 · conflicti + β2 · politicali + β3 · sociali + β4 · toolsi III. EMPERICAL STRATEGY + β5 · internet penetrationi A. Using OLS: Possible Endogeneity Problem + β6
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