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In an overreaction to last year's tragic events on September 11th, a recent study showed a majority of Americans are willing to give up some of their most basic liberties in order to "protect" the country from terrorists.
A whopping two-thirds of Americans believe the government should restrict public access to information to keep it out of terrorists' hands, even if it means the public will be deprived of information it needs or wants, according to a Pew Internet & American Life study released last week.
You Must Be Kidding
It sounds like a bad dream, these public opinions. What is astonishing is that the public would just hand over a set of rights and liberties to the government under the assumption that somehow we'll be able to sleep better at night.
The United States was founded on the right of free speech, and with that comes access to government information via the Freedom of Information Act. It seems bizarre to me that we would allow a hostile nation or group to make us weak and scared enough to hand over rights that thousands of young men and women have died defending.
Yes, we're scared. Yes, we think that somehow the Internet played a role in 19 terrorists' ability to coordinate the worst attack against civilians on domestic soil this country has ever seen. But by scaling back public information on government Web sites, we become no better than all those countries we disparage -- China, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia -- for restricting citizens' access to the Web and hence to information.
Information Is Available
It is important to remember that for guys like Mohammed Atta, the convenience of finding information on the Internet is not a factor in deciding whether to launch a jihad on this nation. Governmental information, bomb-making guides and flight school information can all be found at public libraries around the United States.
But to folks who believe we should restrict information on the Internet, I say, why stop there? Should we close our libraries too? Remove all government indexes and publications from the shelves? Or profile patrons to make sure they are white, middle-class U.S. citizens?
The Internet is but one avenue to information. As with all others, putting up roadblocks and barriers to accessing it is equivalent to burning books, and about as useful.
One Step Further
According to the Pew study, 70 percent of respondents approved of officials' steps to remove from Web sites any information that could aid terrorists, such as data on chemical plants and details about the chemicals they produce.
Folks, we are not talking about regulating the flow of information about public utilities here; these are private companies. If a privately or publicly held company decides to remove such information on its own, fine. But bringing in the long arm of the law to audit a company's Web site is absurd and counterproductive.
Let's Get Ourselves Together
This is my plea to the majority of Americans to get your heads back on straight. Remember the Cold War and McCarthyism. Remember all the nations we have lambasted -- even attacked -- that have placed eerily similar restrictions on their citizens' access to information.
Don't fear the Internet and its power of communication -- that's not the problem here.
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