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NEWS > TECHNOLOGY > FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON PROPOSES AGENCY TO COMBAT THE INTERNET
FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON PROPOSES AGENCY TO COMBAT THE INTERNET
May 14 2011
New York, NY – Whenever new technology comes around there are people who rail against it, people who believe that at best it is the wrong way to go and at worst believe that it portends the end of society. It is usually accepted as a standard that 
such people are either old or uneducated, or both, and that their fear of this new technology is a fear borne out of ignorance. Often that is true, but fear of the future is not isolated to the ignorant and frequently intelligent people, perhaps not seeing the benefits of the new technology, lump themselves into that crowd.
Few would argue that Bill Clinton, personal weaknesses aside, is not an intelligent man. Even his fiercest opponents would acknowledge the intelligence of the former President, something that was often restricted in his former job, but which has been on very clear display in the last decade. Clinton’s post-Presidency has been one of the most active in history as he crafts himself into a more respected and beloved figure than at any time in his years of public service. Despite the compassion and intelligence that he does possess though, Clinton is not immune to the kind of mistakes that many people have made about the future, as evidenced in a recent conversation with CNBC where he proposed a new agency to combat the internet.
“I think it would be a legitimate thing to do. Let's just say the U.S. did it. It would have to be an independent federal agency that no president could countermand or anything else because people wouldn't think you were just censoring the news and giving a different falsehood out,” Clinton said. “That is, it would be like, I don't know, National Public Radio or BBC or something like that, except it would have to be really independent and they would not express opinions, and their mandate would be narrowly confined to identifying relevant factual errors.”
It’s not clear if Clinton would like to do away with the internet entirely, or simply fight partial truths, which make up the bulk of the medium.
“At this stage it is probably impossible to do away with the internet entirely. If we were talking about sometime in the late 1990’s, when Clinton was President, they could probably do something about preventing the spread, but it has become so ubiquitous and so integrated now that it would be next to impossible to get rid of it,” said Scrape TV Media analyst Sarah Piper. “I gather from what Clinton is saying that he would like to combat the more illicit aspects of the web, things like lies and 
rumours, but that is of course the vast majority of the population of the medium and so in essence what is proposing is a more or less complete shutdown of the medium, which frankly will be a fool’s errand.”
It’s estimated that upwards of two billion people are currently connected to the web.
“It would be very similar to prohibition with a lot of money being spent on little results. It would also create a subculture where crime and abuse would occur with regularity. Well, with more regularity than it is now if that’s possible,” continued Piper. “Frankly I think this is a little short-sighted on Clinton’s part, though it’s possible that he is just spit-balling or even trolling, even by accident. Wouldn’t that be a bit of an irony.”
It’s not clear if Clinton would also like to do away with pornography on the internet as well, but that is thought unlikely.
Martin Philton, Technology Correspondent
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