I found the report of terrorism arrests in Birmingham, England an interesting read. The police statement was that the six men were arrested “on suspicion of preparing or instigating an act of terror” while one woman was detained just for failure to disclose information. The police would not disclose further details relating to terrorism in the city because it’s too early, but called it “the most significant counter terrorism operation of this year.” What I found interesting was the angle at which the reporter covered the story. The second half of the article speaks of different alleged terrorism details. Perhaps it’s just the information that was available at the time, but it seems like origins and purposes of the Britain police are being hidden.
I was intrigued by the article about the internet forum Topix and the extreme cases of gossip in rural America. The website is based in California, owned by major news companies, but edited independently. The site is fully anonymous except for geographical location of the one posting, so people can speak of their neighbors. What I found astounding is the damage being done by this gossip outlet. Anyone can post and the majority of the comments have been reported false and negative, but can only become illegal if individual identity is revealed. Internet bullying is no longer just a high school issue. Topix tried screening comments, but gave up when viewer numbers dropped after the gossip was gone. The only improvement made is now a person is not charged for requesting a negative comment to be removed. Overall it’s saddening to see how hatred and lies are being fueled by modern technology.
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