Managing social irresponsibility in cyberspace: the walled garden approach

The advent of cyberspace has resulted in a virtual community whose actions have consequences for citizens in the real world. Many citizens in cyberspace, however, are socially irresponsible and act with disregard for the law and regulation, especially with the use of Web 2.0 which facilitates user generated content. Online communities, newsgroups, video upload sites and forums provide users (many of whom may be vulnerable) with access to content and other users who share similar interests, some of which may be illegal or immoral. In many instances, the law and regulatory mechanisms do not address undesirable acts, content and networking. In other cases cybercrime is unstoppable due to difficulties in monitoring such activity, gathering evidence, and identifying perpetrators. The limited effect of present laws and other forms of regulation makes a compelling case for more social responsibility in cyberspace. This paper argues that perhaps a new ‘walled garden’ approach to the use of the Internet as a social space can be developed whereby social responsibility naturally evolves as an accepted social norm. The paper outlines how such an approach may be developed and how regulatory modalities can function in this new part of cyberspace. The paper also discusses some arguments against this new approach and some difficulties that may surface.