the Internet - a force for good or evil?

Yes, in general it is a force for good. We can do countless things now that we never would be able to do without it.

Videocalling to the other side of the world -Watching your family's children growing up when you can't be there.

Making best friends at the other end of the country.

Knowledge at your fingertips. It's what people choose to do with it that is the problem.

There will always be people who take a good thing and ruin it for others.

That's the problem right there. It's not possible to block this stuff from us without impinging on our rights. Look at countries in the East who have social networking sites/news sites/western sites blocked in order to try and block information getting in or out of their countries - it's madness! Them peoples can't even get on the Facey B - imagine! ?

I think all this sharing of information is just the natural (!) evolution of communication - it has/will change the way the world works.

It's not the internet, its the people using it who are the problem.

The internet has changed the way we live, and life is evolution, constantly changing, improving (mostly) and we have a huge wide world out there that we can access at the click of a mouse.

However, there will always be, and always have been, people who use whatever method they can to spread hate / terror/ their 'message'. Whether its an individual blogging about murdering people, a group of paedophiles or religious extremist, Its not a new thing, its just that we can access so much more information about it now and in turn, so can they.

I think the internet is great. I do however feel that some checks would be good, to prevent the child abuse and various other awful things that seem rife on the internet, but I am just not sure how anyone could do it. I know the national security organisations do this to an extent, but the internet is HUGE. Its bigger than us, and we've made it that way. Its the story of mankind. Give us an inch and we take a mile.

I have nothing to say about this but one thing I want to say here is that a journalist who had nothing to do with this *** happening in Iraq was brutally killed and the U.S. government have done nothing to rescue him. He was kidnapped two years before and he was just doing his job. RIP James Foley.

I hate seeing media articles and things where they try to pin the blame for atrocities on inanimate objects. "The internet" isn't in anyway to blame for what is happening in Iraq and Syria. Terror organisations existed long before the internet was even a thing. Yes, it makes it easier for people to communicate, but it is not in itself a force for either good or evil. It is purely neutral. And just as it makes it easier for people to communicate their intentions, it also makes it easier for governments to track communications by known "persons of interest".

I'm not sure that being able to prevent certain things like paedophilia from being uploaded would make any difference. If people have those sorts of inclinations, they are going to find an outlet for it. Just look at the number of historical allegations from the 1960s and 70s. For those whose argument for their actions revolves around a misplaced sense of oppression, it could be perceived as another case of unfair treatment.

The American sent an elite group to mount a rescue operation last month, but sadly the hostages were not there. They suspect they missed them by days, if not hours

I think that the internet can be an amazing force for good. Communication, information etc. my husband has linked to a group on face book with the same condition as he has and they provide mutual support. However there will always be some who use it for evil, criminals, paedophils and terrorists and yes I believe the internet needs to be regulated content removed and yes even censorship. ISIS have used the murder of the american journalist as a recruitment tool and so sometimes to live in a safe and civilized society we need censorship. We can not have people targeting vonurable people who may respond to become a terrorist or criminal etc.

This. My husband has Marfan's syndrome and he finds it useful getting information online as well as support online. Plus there is lots of help and support for a multitude of things on there. I live miles from the majority of my family and friends so it is very useful for communicating with people.