Is the Internet Evil? Hiroyuki Responds

There's a really interesting interview with Hiroyuki, the founder of 2-channel whom I wrote a feature about in the June issue of Wired, translated into English by Japan Today. Yes, he has attitude, but I believe his stance that the Internet is just a medium, not the source of evil, is rational. He's a lone warrior fighting against the mainstream paranoia that the Internet is breeding crime. Some excerpts and a link to the entire interview below:

The suspect in the Akihabara rampage has told police he killed people because his messages were ignored on 2ch.

That case has nothing to do with us. I don’t believe he killed people just because he was ignored online. He says he doesn’t have friends. But it’s not surprising people like him don’t have friends. But that alone cannot be a reason for murder. It’s too simple to think the Internet causes such crimes.

The Internet is just a tool and all tools have side effects. Look at cars. Do you blame car makers when accidents are caused by speeding? I have my own logic to justify what I’m doing. People can submit information freely on the Internet. Anti-Internet people are just afraid of the unknown potential of the Internet which has a short history.

Link to interview (Thanks, Tim!)
Link to Hiroyuki feature on Wired

Comments

[Dragonfang18]

In other words, its only evil if people are irresponsible to and through it. You can lead kids to porn and seduce them to phedophiles. If you act responsibly you can use it for good. Its like to force in Star Wars terms.