Besides the garbage build-up, there are the oft-heard criticisms that the Internet has become the repository for pornography, hate literature and even advice on how to build a bomb. Censorship of the ‘Net has become a growing rallying cry.
Predictor: Mandel, Michele
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Toronto Sun, Michele Mandel writes: ”Unlike online services that may bring you a specific menu of databases, the Internet is a vast, untamed frontier. In this virtual, democratic community that ties together the world’s computers, it is true that every voice can now be heard. But without gatekeepers, without editors, the information highway has become a frustrating traffic jam. The Internet is akin to a noisy party line, cluttered with a cacophony of voices, many of them spewing endless reams of mindless, useless gibberish that ties up lines, slows down the system and makes finding a kernel of important discourse like locating that elusive needle in the haystack. Besides the garbage build-up, there are the oft-heard criticisms that the Internet has become the repository for pornography, hate literature and even advice on how to build a bomb. Censorship of the ‘Net has become a growing rallying cry.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Censorship/Free Speech
Name of publication: Toronto Sun
Title, headline, chapter name: Net Takes Wrong Turn
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=85aa955369397b6f5f62122ec1c28257&_docnum=22&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlAl&_md5=d4b17b699240700355add1db66c4dfe6
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney