Most of you should know by now about SOPA and PIPA. If not, watch this video:
Today I had a conversation with someone who told me that "if we lost YouTube and all that malarky" it wouldn't really be that much of a big deal. The absolute shock and disgust I felt towards this comment is crazy, so I'd like to make a few points.
1) If we lost the social media sites that would be effected by this legislation, millions of people would lose their jobs.
Take Google, for example. Consider the fact that Google has around 20,222 full-time employees. Now, you need to remember that Google owns thirty-nine other companies. One of those companies is YouTube. YouTube itself employs people in many different areas of their company, probably ranging in to the hundreds (if not thousands, I struggled to find an exact number), but that isn't including YouTube partners. The YouTube partner scheme allows content creators to "partner" with YouTube and make money out of making videos. These are people who make serious content, not just funny videos of animals doing stupid things. There are over 10,000 YouTube partners. A lot of these people solely make their living off YouTube. So, if the legislation was passed unemployment would rise. Do the senate want that? I hope not.
2) If we lost the use of social media sites people would become more politically and socially unaware.
As a media and journalism student one thing that I've always found shocking and scary is that, in countries like China, unless you're willing to go to underground publications, all the mainstream media is censored by the government. In the UK we get around this because we have social media sites like Twitter and Facebook that allow us to discuss current affairs and make people aware of what's going on when the government don't want us to know. Citizen journalism is incredibly important in informing us of the truth and if we lost that we would no longer be a democratic society. Doesn't that scare anyone? The sad thing is that people will remain blissfully unaware of this fact until social media is no longer an option and we have to trust what the newspapers tell us. Will this work out so well when war breaks out and we had no clue what was actually going on? I doubt it. I mean, to make people aware of what SOPA and PIPA is I've used a YouTube video to explain a topic that still kind of baffles me, but that has educated me on the problems that this legislation could cause. I don't ever want to lose my freedom to get information like that.
3) Art will suffer.
So many people will refuse to see this as a valid point because, as the centuries have gone on, art has become less important to so many people. And it baffles me because everyone loves music, or books, or film, or some form of art, and nowadays those of us who create art are able to share it with the world because of the internet. Think of how many bands, film makers, painters, photographers, and writers first started out on the internet. Right now I'm listening to a rapper who I discovered solely through my use of YouTube. And that is why I'm so frustrated that people in Hollywood are backing this legislation because this is how the industry works now. I don't care if you started out in the film industry before the internet played a part in what you do, that isn't how things work now and you can't expect us to regress. I love the internet because it is the main way in which I discover art, and I'm sure that's the same for many people.
4) The internet makes us more socially and culturally aware.
Travel is expensive and with the rise in unemployment less people are able to go very far on their summer holidays. The internet breaks down that barrier and allows us to learn about the cultures that we can't visit. If we want to put a stop to problems like racism (and you'd think the USA would care about this in a big way, for obvious reasons) people need to be allowed to use tools that let them learn about other cultures, whether that be understanding their day to day activities, how they cook, the music they listen to, how they celebrate holidays, the list is endless, and social media sites provide us with this information.
5) The internet gives us a quick and easy access to our governments and modes of protest.
If you want to call this a democracy you damn well better allow us to hold you accountable. If it wasn't for social media I would never have discovered Avaaz, "a global web movement to bring people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere." Avaaz is one of many websites that are against the SOPA and PIPA legislation and they are well on their way to 2,000,000 signatures on their petition. If we aren't aware of websites like this then we have minimal political freedom. Social media also allows us to discuss and debate with people on political issues such as elections and bills like the SOPA and PIPA legislation. I, personally, don't base my political decisions on what the party manifesto says, and social media has been incredibly helpful in helping me understand more about politics. If the government start to take away a freedom like the internet, it's scary to think what they'll take away next.
6) The people who want to pass this legislation have no idea how to use the internet!!!
The senate is full of old men in suits who probably haven't set foot in YouTube, never mind created an account, made videos, or subscribed to other people's channels (and they would probably have no idea what I meant by "subscribed"), they probably have no idea how Facebook works and most likely think that "tweeting" is just what a bird does! They have no idea how people use the internet and this legislation is basically the easy way out. Yes, there are people who misuse the internet, but some (as discussed in the video above) are actually unaware that what they're doing is illegal. The only way to sort out piracy is not by stopping everyone from using the internet and it is unfair and unjust to take away the freedoms of those of us who abide by the rules. If they found people who actually knew how the internet worked then maybe they could figure out a way around this that wouldn't effect all of us, but they probably don't want to lose the power that they hold. And that in itself is scary.
Since it's now two in the morning I'm reasonably tired and hope all of the above makes sense. If you want to sign a petition against the proposed legislation (and I urge you to sign multiple petitions) check out the ones linked below.
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