Internet After WTC Attack (EX CR)

     The authors in "The Internet In The Aftermath Of The World Trade Center Attack" make the argument that the Internet has always had its positives and negatives, but those positives and negatives were boosted and accentuated after the the WTC attack. Internet positives such as how one in one country can communicate with one in another country in many ways through the Internet, and negatives, including terrorist planning from one to another country, were heightened after 9/11. The authors explain how, where, and why these positives and negatives existed.
     The Internet has it's positive aspects, which really showed after the 9/11 tragedy. People from around the world could always communicate with each other through blogs, communities, forums, chat rooms, and the such, before the attack. After the WTC attack, web sites, web blogs, forums, donation sites, communities, and more were set up to help those victims and the families and friends of the victims locate the victims, memorialize the people killed, and search for those they had not heard from. People could pay homage to the firefighters, police, and those people that gave their help in the tragedy. Millions of people from around the world went on any one or more of the hundreds of web sites to donate for the cause. This was not the first tragedy to happen that involved positive Internet use, but it became the fastest and busiest use of the Internet to date. People did not rely on their landline phones or television. They went to the Internet in very large numbers. They acted quicker than they could have by phone or other media. Messages of love and support between the survivors and their loved ones could be transmitted much faster through the Internet. Anyone that needed support were able to reach one of many web sites to find answers, friends, family members, shelter, or whatever they needed, in an instant. Due to the tremendous number of donation sites that were set up, and the ease of donating to the cause, the tragedy was dealt with and the survivors sheltered almost immediately. Memorials, emails, cyber candles, and the such were immediately set up on the Internet to pay homage and respect to those that were involved in the least in the WTC tragedy. The chain of events on the Internet following the WTC attack was certainly fast and on a very large scale, but many people survived and were comforted because of this Internet world gathering.
     Just as the Internet had negative uses before 9/11, these negatives became more put out to the public after the attack. Hoaxes, rumors, web site defacing, and hate speech were among the most seen negative uses after 9/11. Before the attack, some web sites were already prone to defacement, and many forums and communities contained hate speech about something or someone. Much more of this went on after September 11, 2001. Arabs were seen as devils that all needed to be killed and slaughtered, jokes were made about the attack, and web sites, even American support sites, were mistakenly overtaken by hate speech. Bad and sometimes undeniable rumors spread like wildfire through the Internet, creating much more havoc and worry than the 9/11 tragedy had even made by itself. Scams became abundant as hundreds of people created web sites that pretended to be donation websites for the attack victims. None of this money went to anything to support the relief, yet many Americans and those throughout the world fell for it. Due to the tremendous amount of discontent and worry about the use of public information in terrorist plots, large amounts of important public data have been removed by federal and state agencies, including the EPA and USGS. These data have long been used by the public, but now cannot be readily found if at all. This has created a worldly recognized issue of security vs. privacy on the Internet. This is an issue that continues to see worldwide debate.
     The authors discuss terrorism on the internet in their article. They discuss that terrorists around the world communicate via secret messages in picture and music files on the Internet. While some these days argue that the U.S. Government knew about the WTC attack beforehand and that they are at fault, others argue that this tragedy is the fault of the terrorist networks. The Internet, with its vast openness of web sites and other channels, and cryptology, used to "hide" messages and maps inside everyday pictures and music files to be deciphered and read by other terrorists around the world, aid these terrorist networks tremendously. The terrorists post seemingly harmless pictures, videos, and music, that are not watched and monitored by the U.S. intelligence. These "harmless" media files do actually help the terrorist networks in their goals around the world.
     Another event that brought out the positives and negatives of the Internet on a grand scale was the Haiti earthquake. The country was devastated. Haitians and those visiting from other countries had become literally trapped on the island of wreckage. While U.S. and other relief planes had troubles getting into Haiti due to distance, the Internet provided a way to get in touch with loved ones and others down in Haiti. We were able to see pictures and video that were sent to see the trauma and tragedy that the large quake had caused and what needed to be done right away. The world had an immediate way of helping in the cause just as they did on 9/11. Numerous web sites took donations from around the world, raising millions of dollars in no time at all. Blogs, forums, and communities were established immediately to help the survivors and uplift and encourage those who were there to help. We brought Haiti up a little from complete hell in little time; much less time that it would have taken with only phones or no technology at all. Of course, scammers and hate speech were abundant once again. Some scammers would set up phony donation sites as a get-rich-quick scheme. Other scammers would tell the loved ones in the U.S. that they could talk to their Haitian survivor friends or families for a small fee or other information, and then not deliver. There was plenty of hate speech around the web. Some blogs and forums I visited right after the Haiti tragedy depicted Americans and those other countries that helped Haiti as "scoundrels" and worthless "self-described heroes". Others claimed Americans were only in it to take attention away from our terrorism and economic problems. Still one blog I visited claimed that God would basically unearth the United States from His creation because we helped devil-worshipping and voodoo-wielding Haitians. Hate speech was everywhere. I couldn't believe it. To tie terrorism into this, I have seen on web sites and communities that Al-Qaida was happy about this gift from Jihad that financially weakened the United States. As you can see, the Internet was a popular and helpful tool once again in the wake of tragedy, but indecent liberties were taken as well.
     In summary, the Internet has been and will continue to be a very positive tool for future tragedies, but with some pitfalls. With the ease and speed of financial, spiritual, and emotional support to any country or location that needs the rest of the world in times of tragedy and unrest, the Internet can connect the world in an instant. We all become 1 mega-superhero to save that country or region. However, care must be taken by everyone not to be plunged into the downward spiral that is the rumors, scams, unethical persuasion, and terrorism benefit, as we help those people in tragedy. We must cut off the hate and increase the love and care for our world. The Internet can only thrive and become even stronger in a positive way if the hearts of the world would let it be that way. As Bakelaar and Holcomb state in "Postscript, September 2006" in the article, "(The Internet) brings us closer, faster to distant people, but is also a tool of terrorists and others who would sabotage human solidarity."(Bakelaar and Holcomb 648). If used properly and with kind hearts that understand the tragedy and why help is needed, no tragedy would be too large or grand to overcome with the people and the Internet as the main catalysts to recovery.


Bibliography


Holcomb, Briavel, Philip B. Bakelaar, and Mark Zizzamia. "The Internet In The Aftermath Of The World Trade Center Attack." The Cybercultures Reader. 2nd ed. Eds. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. 638-650.