I read a press release from the labour party during the last few days where Nessa Childers is calling to restrict access to Facebook in some way or other. She claims there is a growing amount of people suffering an addiction to this web site.
Nessa is Nutters
As is typical by this sort of mad notions by politicians it lacks any detail. The press release looks like something to keep her in the news some way or other. I am suspicious of any politician who want to tell me what to do and restrict my freedom. Nessa get off your high horse and join the real world.
Her Facebook Account
Nessa has her own Facebook account – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nessa-Childers/44689933935 – she says that she uses it to communicate with her constituents. Firstly what is wrong with email and her own website? She has her own site here http://www.nessachilders.ie/ and blog – so between email and her own site it is not quite enough she also has to have Facebook to communicate with her constituents – please…
So would it be fine if she was limited to a certain amount of time each day or each week on Facebook and her own constituents were waiting for her to get back to them? I often find people like this want to control others and do whatever they want themselves – a rule for them etc, etc.
Labour or Green
Reading Nessa’s bio on Wikipedia I can’t quite understand if Nessa just wants to be a politician and be elected for something or if she actually has any beliefs herself that tie her to her current party.
From her wiki
Childers originally joined the Labour Party before the 2004 local elections, but when she failed to get a nomination to run for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, she switched to the Green Party and was elected as a Green councillor.
And then
In September 2008 she resigned from the Green Party to run for the Labour Party in the East constituency at the 2009 European Parliament election.
I think we all have to make up our own minds about the people that represent us. As a society we have made some awful mistakes over the last few years.
Freedom – Not a Labour Issue
I watched the Labour Party in the UK over the last number of years. It eroded personal freedom and imposed the big brother state on its citizens. This is often the main problem of Labour Parties – they are not to be trusted to leave me in peace to enjoy my freedom – unlike the current Tories who can not be trusted not to steal from the population – some choice we have.
Other Websites?
This press release put out by the Labour Party on behalf of Nessa Childers is just hyperbole by a power hungry MEP. No real details, no stats to back up her statement that people are addicted to Facebook, or even if it is the case that it is dangerous.
Of all the things happening in Ireland and the world this is what she decides to concentrate on – restricting my and your freedom.
And what of other websites? Is it just Facebook that is the target? I run a forum on this site, should people only be allowed to access it for a certain period of time? Sometimes I wonder why I even bother writing about the nonsense that is published by people like this – but there is something inside me that want to keep them back and stop them even getting some sort of foothold with these crazy notions.
What about the next big thing, because there will be another at some point. Does she want us to stop everything that we consider fun? Please Nessa just go back to being a shrink and leave my freedom alone.
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Hi,
Thanks for your blog post but it is completely wrong. It no way did I call for a ban or restriction. You may not realise but internet addiction is a real issue and has been recognised by the EU as such.
Just as PaddyPower.ie have guidelines to protect addicts, so should social networking sites. If you listened to my interview with Ray Darcy earlier this week, you would hear the huge amt of people who are spending 4/5 hours a day on Facebook. This is a mental health issue.
I am a huge fan of such sites for moderate usage and would never advocate censorship etc but addiction of all forms is something I will highlight during my term in the European Parliament.
Thank you,
Nessa
The problem I have is that if government regulate in any this they affect my freedom. I don’t need most of my life covered by any more regulation. Thanks for putting the record straight on the parts I may have miss-quoted you.
How does this effect your freedom?
Well, restrict other communities as well… and why not youtube, google and other sites when you are in the action of doing “important stuff”? Why not control “our” addiction to the Internet? Cause we all know that facebook is the only “danger” out there??
PLEASE do some research before making these statements. Of course there are people that will be addicted to stuff like this. But a restriction won’t help with anything. There will always be ways for the market and companies to use/abuse people? People will have to learn not to be abused! Facebook will die when people realize that there is no real use for it. Give it 3-4 years. Then you won’t have to regulate anything.
Please read some human geography and learn about human interactions in space/places like the Internet.