How Could Blockchain Help Protect Free Speech
With the coming of the digital age, life has become much more comfortable for humanity as a whole. But the digitalization has been the reason of many sleepless nights for legislators and policymakers all across the world. It has been proved over and over again that laws crafted the appearance of computers have harmful consequences when applied to problems created by technology.
But change is happening, and it’s happening across the world.
London has cameras set up on almost every corner of the streets, and the moment a person sets foot in London, they realize that their every step is being watched.
Governments across the world are tapping the phone and messaging channels.
While some countries do it under the veil of denial, many do it openly, brushing it off as a “security measure.”
They argue that citizens want security, even if it comes at a cost.
So it’s not surprising that legislators in Wyoming have made it illegal to gather data of any kind from open land in their state. Which, by default, also means that it is illegal to take pictures of any location that might put the government in an uncomfortable position.
Drafted and signed by the Governor, the primary motivation behind this legislation was to keep environmentalists and activists at bay from any site that could serve as evidence of wrongdoing on the government’s part. Any evidence gathered by violating it would be inadmissible in court.
Regardless of a standpoint, this can be classified as data censorship. Violation of these legal statutes carries a prison sentence of up to one year, civil trespassing liability and monetary fines.
Legal statutes like these seem harmless when reading them directly, but when one considers its direct consequences, the bigger picture comes into perspective. In this case, the statute gives reporters and citizens an incentive to “look the other way” when they see anything that points to the government’s wrongdoing; or face penalties.
Where does Blockchain fit in all of this?
It is hardly news that governments across the world are trying their best to control the information that flows in and out of their countries.
If we look at it from their perspective, it makes sense to monitor data, given how valuable it has grown in this time and age. But people are starting to stand up against the violation of their privacy, and the creation of Blockchain was a step in the right direction. It is not surprising that many governments are against the use of Blockchain and its applications.
Blockchains use extends way beyond cryptocurrencies. For example, while evidence in its traditional form may be subject to tampering and thus become unacceptable in court, a transparent solution using Blockchain technology can quickly solve this issue because every user in that system has a copy which guarantees that everything is in its original state. The risk of misuse of data drops down to nearly zero as nothing can be taken offline once it’s in the system because there is no centralized server in use.
Humanity has been fighting over freedom of speech for centuries. Many have given their lives in order to protect it over the years.
But when we look at Blockchain’s promising results, it’s hard not to admit that there is a silver lining to all of this — that no matter how hard someone tries, freedom of speech can never be eradicated and with the technological advances aimed at privacy preservation we can hope to regain it completely.
