The Internet Is A Threat To Democracy

According to Google, democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. Eli Pariser, the writer of “When the Internet Thinks It Knows You,” said that “democracy depends on the citizen’s ability to engage with multiple viewpoints; the Internet limits such engagement when it offers up only information that reflects your already established point of view.” A nation’s obligation is to represent and protect the democracy of the people, however, how can a nation represent its people if the people are a threat their own democracy? In “The Internet’s Loop of Action and Reaction is Worsening,” by Farhad Manjoo, Manjoo describes how ugly the Internet became. …show more content…
This is a threat to democracy because people need to be treated equally and should not be divided in order for the nation to be stable. Bruni implies that people who use technology divides their society into “culturally and ideologically inflexible tribes” (Bruni). He is indicating that people are participating in a social division and because of this “social separation”, it drives the nation apart. People should be using the Internet to come together because that is what having a democracy stands for, yet people on the Internet are allowing tribalism to be present and this threatens democracy. Farhad Manjoo includes how John Perry Barlow, the Internet freedom activist, wants an online world to be “more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before” (Manjoo). He suggests that a nation cannot be fair online if it is pushing individuals apart. The people should not be separated on the Internet when they are suppose to be joint together for their nation. Citizens need to act together as a whole because the process of having a democracy was not meant to keep different groups and individuals