History, Politics, Economics and Cultures of the Internet and Internetworked Technologies

Essay Instructions:

Assignment 2: The short hypertextual essay
Weighting: 35% 1300 words Due Friday 15 October 11.59pm (week 9)
Write a short hypertextual, multimedia essay, based on a topic from the list provided or a topic that you nominate, which is approved by your tutor, and publish it to the class Wordpress blog. Include relevant supporting images, embedded links, social media content, and where relevant audio and/or video. Where possible you will use Creative Commons sourced images, and your online blog post should be registered with a Creative Commons licenceLinks to an external site.. https://creativecommons(dot)org(dot)au/
The set questions are:
What is meant by the "techlash"? Discuss the public concerns that lie behind the techlash. To what extent can these concerns be addressed by governments, by civil society organisations, and by the technology companies themselves?
Do a case study of a platform business. When did the business commence, what are its primary fields of operation, and has it been successful? How does it make money from its activities, and have any concerns been raised about the company?
To what extent has the development of the Internet been shaped by structural inequalities? Has it been a force for reducing or increasing such inequalities? Discuss with reference to at least one of the following: gender; race; social class; nationality; disability; sexuality; the Global North/Global South divide.
What issues arise for digital platforms with content moderation? Discuss attempts to implement content moderation, and any controversies that have resulted? Should governments have a greater role in enforcing content moderation restrictions on social media?
Do a review of a film or television program about the Internet, from the list included in your unit outline (p. 6). In your review, be sure to do more than simply describe the film and/or TV show. Place it in the context of debates about the Internet, its history, power relations, and its future.
Your essay should cite academic research including journal articles, reports and books. Media articles are allowable citations but will not be weighted as highly as peer reviewed academic scholarship. You must appropriately attribute and link all sources cited or quoted. A minimum of five references should be used, including work cited in the unit outline.
Your essay will include a hypertext reference list, in APA style with doi (digital object identifier) numbers for journal articles, reports and other documents, where these are available. The MECO Style Guide can be found here Download
Previous work in this unit can be found on the Class BlogLinks to an external site. on the front page. Note that the assignment format differed for 2020, but this past student work will give you a sense of how to write for the Web. https://www(dot)arin2610(dot)net(dot)au/
Note that your online work will have a Creative Commons licence, and content you make use of (e.g. images) are also CC licenced. More information about Creative Commons licences can be found hereLinks to an external site.. https://creativecommons(dot)org(dot)au/
Submit your essay on the Class blogLinks to an external site., with a Word document or PDF copy via the Assessment 2 assessment link on Canvas. If any plagiarised or ghost-written material is detected you are likely to receive no marks for this task.
Some tips on essay do's and don'ts can be found here Download See also the MECO Style Guide on the front page of the Canvas site. Resources and information are also accessible from the Learning HubLinks to an external site..
Marking criteria:
The essay should demonstrate:
a critical understanding of the history, politics, economics and cultures of the internet and internetworked technologies. 25 marks
awareness of social & cultural issues arising from networked change, with current examples 10 marks
skills in web writing (chunking, lists, SEO practice, effective and appropriate use of anchor link words). 20 marks
skills in web and social media production (use of relevant, illustrative multimedia content; correct attribution of third party content). 10 marks
clarity of argument & depth of research. 20 marks
presentation (meets word count; accurate citation and referencing; correct spelling, punctuation and grammar). 15 marks

Essay Sample Content Preview:

History, Politics, Economics and Cultures of the Internet and Internetworked Technologies
Student's Name
Institution
CitizenFour: Privacy on the Interent is a Myth
Directed by Laura Poitras, CitizenFour exposes the massive surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA). After receiving anonymous and encrypted e-mails about illegal surveillance operations by the NSA, Poitras, alongside reporters Ewen MacAskill and Glenn Greenwald, decided to fly to Hong Kong, China, to interview and expose one of the most troubling secrets government operations that put the privacy of citizens at risk. In a world where communications by people are done through technological devices, the revelations that interactions are monitored and intercepted cast a new light on how freedom is perceived. Through the revelations by Edward Snowden in the film, the freedom of speech over technological devices can be said to be a myth due to the surveillance, imbalance of power, intrusion of privacy, and the participation of large telecommunication companies in the saga.
File from Creative Commons with CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
Mass Surveilance by NSA Shapes Privacy Debate
The main theme covered in the film is the surveillance operations by the NSA, a US government security agency. The film reveals how the NSA intercepts billions of communications in the US and other places worldwide. According to the film, immediately after the 9/11 attacks, the US Congress passed the Patriot Act, which gave security authorities the right to monitor the communication of suspicious individuals. However, NSA decided to monitor and intercept the communications of everyone in the country. -1047752724150Image by Mike Litch marked with CC BY 2.0 license.0Image by Mike Litch marked with CC BY 2.0 license.In this case, every communication made through technological means, including phone calls, internet searches, chats, e-mails, and SMSs, could be monitored and intercepted by the NSA. This went beyond the country as NSA was able to cooperate with other governments in the surveillance operations. For example, it is revealed in the film that the NSA spied on even the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkelleft5715000. Citing the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Thompson et al. (2020) point out that "online surveillance of citizens (as with offline surveillance) is generally justified for its role in the prosecution and prevention of crime and the prevention of activities that threaten national security" (p.1). While that could be the case, the members of the public are often against such measures. As reported by Thompson et al. (2020), immediately after the leaks by Snowden, there was a significant increase in the number of internet searches regarding how to protect one's privacy online. Therefore, while people may not prefer to be surveilled, the government, as can be seen in the film, can secretly monitor and intercept one's interactions on technological devices. As revealed in the film, through surveillance, the ability of the people to express themselves fully is curtailed.
CitizenFour Reveals an Imbalance of Power between the Government and Citizens
The film also reveals that there is an imbalance of power between governme...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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History, Politics, Economics and Cultures of the Internet and Internetworked Technologies

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