Digital Divide Issue
The digital divide became part of a common lexicon when Vice President Al Gore used it in a speech in 1996 (Openstax, 2016 p. 158). The internet providers should allow open access to all content without restriction by source, thereby creating an equal opportunity. Unfortunately, providers want to control what content is accessible through their cables, steering consumers toward the providers’ interests. With the big three Telecom companies – Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast – lobbying against net neutrality, in December 2017 it was scrapped, which exacerbates the digital divide (Foundation, 2018). Only 40% of households below the poverty level subscribe to broadband service, while 93% of households with incomes above $75,000 per year subscribe to broadband service (Foundation, 2018). Essentially this means that the poorest cannot afford broadband access, making them “noncitizens in the digital era” (Foundation, 2018).
It would seem that there are diverse media outlets where one could get the news from, but those numbers are misleading (Openstax, 2016 p. 166). With media consolidation happening at an alarming pace, five big names control most of the world’s access to information – Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft (Foundation, 2018). They have super-monopolies akin to the steel, oil, and railroad monopolies during the industrial revolution (Foundation, 2018). Google and Facebook get 80% of the referrals online and two-thirds of the ad revenue (Foundation, 2018). This is ironic as the internet was designed to be a space free of corporate influence, and a place for not-for-profits to do open research (Foundation, 2018).
The panoptic surveillance envisioned by Jeremy Bentham is here, and most people don’t realize the form it has taken (Openstax, 2016 p. 171). Our online information is being gathered without our knowledge and then sold to other businesses (Foundation, 2018). The video shows a scene from the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise’s character is walking in a mall-like area and there are ads on screens everywhere personalized for him (Foundation, 2018). This type of subliminal message is something that happens every day, just not so overtly. Facebook and Google both show individual ads personalized for each consumer with information that they have gathered (Foundation, 2018). This is an invasion of our basic privacies. Even though Facebook and Google have been sued over this, it has not stopped them from continuing to gather this information (Foundation, 2018). With these ads everywhere, they are controlling what we see when we use the internet.
Looking at what a conflict theorist may have to say about the internet, with the great disparity in broadband usage, this is just one example of the inequality in society that the internet can help foster. The “Big Five” controlling what information we as citizens are given access to, and presented with, will also be a factor to them as another example of the digital divide. They might also say that this is just another example of the evils of Capitalism and how power inevitably ends up in the hands of a few.
How Media Affected Me
For a while, I would watch the Fox News Channel nightly, shows like The O’Reilly Factor and Hannity and Combs. I used to read far left magazines like International Socialist Review and some environmental ones as well. I would not mind getting my news from Al Jazeera since it may be less biased when it comes to the interests and concerns of citizens of other countries. Frankly, I now pay very little attention to the news. It seems that the moneyed interests that run the world are going to do what they want to do anyway, regardless of what the “little guy” thinks or desires. The only way I hear any news, most weeks, is if I happen to overhear something while at a store or restaurant, or if someone specifically mentions a news article to me. I have experienced targeted advertising on Facebook, that’s where I got my Russell Westbrook November Birthdays T-shirt. In fact, just now, in my inbox, is an email from Barnes and Noble wanting me to add my birthday to my account. The gathering of information on the web just never ceases.
Restrictions and Inequality on the Internet
The internet can be a great tool for accessing boundless forms of information. But it is not without its problems, as we have seen. The digital divide has just created more inequality when it comes to internet access. The biggest internet providers have become monopolies. To a large extent, they essentially control what information we have access to, and have us under surveillance, whether we know it or not. What we do on the internet is being watched and used to sell us goods and services: Capitalism at its finest.
