New Media - Power to the people or threat to stability?

In this case, the new media is referred to the Internet, encompassing web-based interactive communication tools such as blogs, message boards, forums, podcasts, online communities and wikipedia.

In the first article, new media is considered a power to the people - the power of free speech, and "America's last hope for a free press". However, in the second article, new media is portrayed as a threat to stability, mainly due to the spread of terrorist ideas on the internet.

In my opinion, new media is more of a threat to stability, than a power to the people, though both stands still hold. Ever since the attack on USA on September 11 2001, terrorists attacks have been more rampant than before all over the world. However, has anyone stopped to think that with security tightened in almost every country, how is it that these terrorists attacks still happen, causing death and damage throughout the world? This is mainly due to the platform the internet has given these terrorists to work on. Terrorists use the internet "for fund-raising, training and planning purposes. It is now primarily used for radicalisation and recruitment purposes." And because of this given platform, many people are suffering and living in fear of terror attacks each day, especially in countries such as Iraq.

Though some people might argue that Internet has brought our society many benefits including providing reliable in-depth news coverage as mentioned in article 1, i believe the many negative impacts terrorism has brought our world overrides them all.

Terrorists now can not only spread their radical ideologies on the internet, but also recuit people. "Extremists have become adept in crafting their message to suit their target audience. Many terror websites are flashy and well-designed and feature visually arresting graphic content. Many also offer chatrooms, music videos and other features that are obviously targeted at a computer-savvy, media-saturated generation - namely, the young." Youngsters are easily susceptible to bad influence and thus are vulnerable to manipulation by these terrorists. "In an increasingly secularised world, many people are turning to religion to give meaning to their lives. This search for ideals is most prominent among the young. "

Although many efforts have been made to highlight the dangers of extreme ideas and preventing such extremist websites from being disseminated, targeting mainly youths, i feel that these efforts can be further carried out to schools and institutions. Children should be taught from young to stay away from terrorist ideologies and how to tell right from wrong. With the cooperation of the wider society and the world, terrosists attacks can be reduced.