Online Censorship and Privacy

 It makes sense that when it comes to privacy, the most vulnerable groups are likely children and people in need. If a child wondering the Internet decides to reveal their age or other information about themselves in a chatroom, for instance, it is highly possible that someone might take inappropriate interest in them. The more any person reveals about themselves online, the more likely it is that someone might try and exploit it.

I recently happened upon a reality show called "Adults Adopting Adults". It is a show where young people who might be in a vulnerable place are adopted by adults. I do not see anything really wrong with the idea itself, however, there was one family on the show that created quite the controversy. The adopting couple had a lot of marital issues, including the husband cheating and having feelings towards a young woman who they wanted to adopt before the show. During the show, the couple is adopting a young pregnant woman called Ileana, who flies over to the US from Austria. 

The husband, Danny, is the one that wants to adopt her, his wife is rather against the whole situation. As a compromise, they place Iliana in a trailer next to their home. They also suspect Iliana of "only caring for money" and catfishing them. Danny also makes sexual remarks about her behind her back.

So, why did this poor girl get into this situation in the first place? Obviously, she was in a vulnerable state being pregnant and homeless in Austria. She posted on a Facebook group for adult adoption about her issues. Thus, giving up information about her that a man like Danny could easily use for his benefit. I think she was likely too caught up in her problems to think what would a person like Danny be getting out of her moving to the US. In my opinion, a prime example of a person in need getting "help". The show was cancelled and the last episodes not even shown, most likely due to Danny´s inappropriate actions. 

I personally do not really believe in "stranger danger" - I am not afraid to make friends online. However, it still feels like finding "adult adopters" online in such a manner is probably really unsafe. I do wonder, if there are other vulnerable people who have fallen victim to such people, however, this is more likely a question of "how many", not "if".

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Wikipedia is often seen as the student´s most valuable aid, being a fast way to get information about all sorts of topics. Whenever I have a question about anything, the most accessible way to easily understand something is usually Wikipedia. And in essence, Wikipedia seems like a very innocent site. However, two countries have blocked it off from their citizens: China and Myanmar (after the coup d'état).

Red - Countries where Wikipedia is currently blocked; Dark green - previously blocked; Light green - previously partially blocked https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Wikipedia_website_blocks.svg/1920px-Wikipedia_website_blocks.svg.png

I was intrigued by why these countries, especially China had blocked off Wikipedia - the embodiment of "information freedom". I could not really find an answer. I could definitely see at least some reason for most of the other sites that they have blocked. My best guess is that Wikipedia could potentially share information that might undermine the government.

If anyone is wondering, why the UK is bright green, it is because they blocked a Wikipedia article about an album - the cover featured a prepubescent girl posing nude.