Are Young People Liable for Internet Posts
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Univesity of Nairobi *
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MISC
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Law
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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Are Young People Liable for Internet Posts?
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Are Young People Liable for Internet Posts?
The emergence of social media presents society with both opportunities and challenges. The world is more connected with the internet, and people can communicate easily. However, since most content over the web is uncensored, individuals can post whatever they want, especially on social media platforms. Young people constitute the most significant portion of internet users. Although most of them join social media for fun, they may not understand the implications of their activities online. The recent uproar against Facebook’s inability to control anti-Muslim sentiment in Myanmar indicates the failure of a technology company to monitor and
respond to inappropriate content on their sites effectively. Since tech companies cannot control whatever users post, young people should be held responsible for their internet posts, potentially deterring others from making discriminatory messages.
In most countries, people under eighteen are not legally acknowledged as adults. However, they can enter into a contractual agreement with social media operators to share and post their details. At their level of development, they do not have the capacity to understand the implications of their communications, yet they present risks if their interactions are uncontrolled.
Once users share information on social media, they lose control over whose hands it may fall. For example, a teen who shares a hate message about a specific group will reach many people, who may act based on this message. While the law protects minors below the age of 13, individual users sharing dangerous messages should be held responsible for their internet posts.
The effects of misinformation cannot be understated. For instance, in Singapore, the police arrested a youth suspected of inciting violence and sharing negative sentiment about a specific religious group (Zhuo, 2020). Young people above 18 are legally liable for their internet activity because the law recognizes them as adults. As such, at 21, they should be held
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accountable for their posts and face the full extent of the law in case they violate laws that govern social media interactions. If found guilty of intentionally inciting violence and posting comments to hurt racial or religious groups, young people should face jail terms and pay necessary fines. These actions against offenders are required to discourage other internet users from posting derogatory messages about different groups of people.
Reflection In determining whether young people should be held accountable for their internet posts, I prioritized their ability to consent to share information about themselves with social media companies. Whether they know it or not, they enter into a contractual agreement and are bound by laws that protect other internet users from derogatory statements. The audience should understand that an individual who uses social media. However, they may not be fully developed to understand the implications of their online activity; they should be responsible for their posts. I also described how easy it is to lose control of one’s posts once they have made them. Misinformation does not change because a young person shares it. Instead, peers are likely to push for a specific message if tech companies or authorities do not deter their inciting messages. I chose the information in this order because controlling what the audience gets from internet users is a shared responsibility from individual users, tech companies, and regulatory authorities. Everyone needs to act responsibly and recognize that whatever they do on online platforms has more far-reaching consequences than they can readily see.
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Reference
Zhuo, T. (2020, June 9).
Youth arrested for inciting violence and posting religious hateful comments on social media
. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/youth-arrested-for-inciting-
violence-and-posting-religious-hateful-comments