The dark sides of the Internet
On the internet nothing is impossible: You can find information, creativity and help. But there are also dark sides, which you have to be aware of
An entry by Laura-Marie Buxmann und Melanie Molata
Saturday, January 09, 2021
Media, Technology and Society
The Internet: a great place full of love, creativity and help, but also a place full of hate, fake news, shitstorms and bullying. „Nothing is impossible“ is actually the slogan of the Hyundai car brand, but for the Internet, too, we would claim this is a very fitting description.
There was something big to celebrate in 2019. The Internet has already celebrated its 30th birthday. In March 1989, British physicist and computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee first presented his idea for the Internet. And lo and behold – 30 years later, we even carry the Internet around in our pockets. It’s a phenomenon that is now impossible to imagine the world without.
The Internet is a big playground. A playground that can be used freely by anyone. Anyone can get information in seconds, stream videos and music, and communicate with people all over the world. But there are also negative reports every day that illustrate the darker side of the Internet.
Cyberbullying, cybercrime, the darknet and also the issue of data protection are just a few areas that show the dark sides of the Internet.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is initially understood to be a hateful and aggressive behavior on the Internet. In most cases, this behavior is directed against another person in order to harm him or her. Often, the offenders have a relationship with these people in their analogue lives. The phenomenon of cyberbullying first emerged because more and more of our lives‘ events are taking place online, and bullying has therefore moved from the schoolyard, the street, or the workplace to the Internet.
In addition, there are many different types of cyberbullying. These include, for example, the spreading of defamatory photos or videos of a person, the creation of groups solely for the purpose of bullying another person, identity theft and the spreading of untruths with the help of a false identity and, of course, acts such as insults, harassment and threats.
There are already many different approaches to combating cyberbullying. For one thing, prevention in schools is already recommended. The state office of the Working Group for Child and Youth Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesstelle der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kinder- und Jugendschutz in Nordrhein-Westfalen), for example, publishes the brochure Hate Speech. Hass im Netz. Informationen für Fachkräfte und Eltern. Among other things, it contains tips on how to sensitize children and young people to the issue of cyberbullying in the educational environment. It states that it is beneficial to improve general media competence so that children and young people learn to use media responsibly, are informed about personal rights and data protection, and learn to reflect on their own media use. Social competence should also be promoted so that children and young people are sensitized to personal boundaries, their ability to empathize and respect is encouraged, a culture of conflict and feedback can be established, and anger management can be practiced and moral courage strengthened. It is then also helpful to establish support structures by identifying desired forms of behavior in the Internet, introducing children and young people to support services, and developing a code of conduct together with them.
There are also organizations such as the Bündnis gegen Cybermobbing (Alliance Against Cyberbullying) that have realized that cyberbullying is increasingly becoming a widespread problem in our society and have therefore made it their mission to counteract this development. With their work, they also want to educate and sensitize society on the topic of cyberbullying.
Cybercrime
Cybercrime, like cyberbullying, knows no borders and can take place anywhere „where people, computers, smartphones and other IT devices are used – in companies, public authorities, universities, at home and on the move“ (Bundesministerium des Innern, für Bau und Heimat, English: Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs). Perpetrators can operate from anywhere in the world and easily cover their tracks due to the borderless possibilities. Accordingly, a crime scene is not the same as a crime location. Cybercrime includes hacker attacks, fraud, illegal uploads, cyberterrorism, malware, and the unsolicited distribution of pornography. Child pornography in general is punishable by law!!
The most common crime is the theft of a digital identity. By tapping a password, the stolen digital identity can be misused, for example, to conclude contracts or order goods online. The best protection against such an offense is to use a complex password instead of the commonly used „123456“ password. Information on good and secure passwords can be found here.
Darknet
First of all, the darknet is just a network that allows its users to surf the Internet anonymously. This network is only accessible through the use of special software. Often, the Tor network or the Tor browser (Tor = The Onion Router) is used as a synonym for the darknet. However, this term is not correct. The Tor network is just one of the largest representatives of these networks that allow anonymous surfing. So, first of all, the darknet is not illegal or inadmissible per se. However, it is not only journalists who are interested in a certain degree of anonymity on the Internet; the guaranteed anonymity of the darknet also tempts criminals to misuse it, as it is difficult or impossible to prosecute illegal activities. Many areas of the darknet do not differ from the clearnet in terms of structure and type of use. There, too, there are forums with opinions and discussions and wikis with explanations, except that the content in the darknet often relates to illegal activities and content. Unfortunately, it cannot be avoided that people misuse such a possibility and use it for illegal activities.
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (German: Bundeskriminalamt), a significant part of the darknet is made up of so-called darknet marketplaces, where mostly incriminated goods are traded anonymously. These digital black markets in the darknet affect almost all offense areas of classic crime phenomena, such as narcotics and prescription drugs, weapons and explosives, child and youth pornography, counterfeit money, forged deeds and documents, counterfeit branded products, data theft, malware, and crime-as-a-service offers such as the performance or support of criminal acts on behalf of others. Trafficking of narcotics on the darknet still represents the largest illegal market share. However, child and youth pornographic material, firearms, and fentanyl in particular have disappeared from the majority of marketplaces in response to intensive, internationally coordinated policing.
Data protection
The subject of data protection is a very frequently discussed topic on the Internet. Almost every mobile app uses and processes personal data these days. It doesn’t matter if it’s Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or even TikTok. All apps that are provided to us for free, we pay for with our personal data. You can see exactly how the companies use the personal data under the privacy settings of the respective app. But how can I protect my data? And how can I prevent companies from further using my personal data? The answers to these questions seem simple at first: delete cache, history, cookies and spyware, or surf the Internet anonymously. However, if you don’t want to leave any personal data on the Internet, you have to stay away from the big apps, as mentioned above, and do without. You can find out how to protect your data properly here.
Of course, the Internet not only offers us negative opportunities, but also positive ones. But we should always keep the negatives in mind when surfing the Internet. You can find more information and help on these topics here:
http://www.cybermobbing-hilfe.de/
https://www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/themen/kinder-und-jugend/medienkompetenz/was-ist-cybermobbing-/86484