The Internet And Jeremy Bentham's Model Of The Panopticon

Robbery, rape, homicide, etc. are being joined by another threat. The increase in popularity of the Internet over the years has resulted in the creation of a new type of crime, cybercrime. With that, came along a new concern: the need for safety and surveillance on the Internet. This has created a certain type of Panoptic society and displays the way in which people are subject to behave when they know that a higher power such as the Federal Government and even local law enforcement agencies have the ability to access their information via computer systems. Cybercrime can be defined in many ways whether it’s money laundering, bullying, fraud, or stalking. Each of these crimes are especially now more opportune because of the Internet and
the anonymity of it – to a certain extent. The most common form of cybercrime is seen on social media websites in the form of bullying or harassment. It is definitely becoming more of an issue and is being taken more seriously by law enforcement as time goes by, which creates more of a panoptic society within the world of the Internet. In Jeremy Bentham’s model of the Panopticon, prisoners in their own individual cell are inclined to their daily routines and keep order while knowing that they are being watched.
A central tower, however they are not aware of whom or what is watching them. Michael Focault theorizes that their knowledge of being watched and inability to see who exactly is watching them is what keeps them in order and is why they behave the way they do. “Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable; the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so.” (Focault 231) This is similar to our Internet run society today. Although Internet users are not completely aware of who is able to view their account and cannot verify anything when it comes to who is searching through their information, they are aware and can see that someone has access to their information. Some say that the anonymity of the Internet
can be liberating, but there are limits that pertain to these liberties. Just as the inmates in Bentham’s Panopticon, Internet users are subject to a certain sense of awareness off the ability of a higher power to have access to their every click. The Facebook users are the inmates and the government is the central tower. Foucault writes that, “Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance” (Focault 306). Being that the Government has access to our accounts on the Internet, specifically Facebook, there is a certain distrust in the US when it comes to what one is willing to post of the internet. This is a result of a lack of knowledge of who exactly is perpetrating the rules and regulations of the Internet, and who has the ultimate authority. Facebook users have the liberty of expressing themselves within a single status with the push of a button. Although this is seen as some sort of new world of self-expression, it is dangerous in many ways. The ability of users to freely express their opinion allows for all kinds of cybercrimes involving harassment, bullying, etc. Being that most social media users are aware of their ultimate vulnerability of surveillance by the government, or anyone actually, they behave a certain way. Just as the inmates in Bentham’s Panopticon are subject to their knowledge of a higher power, we are subject to those who have access to our own social media activity. In Panopticism, Focault mentions a hierarchy of power that is present in the Panopticon.
“…power is exercised without division, according to a continuous hierarchal figure, in which each individual is constantly located, examined, and distributed among the living beings, the sick, and the dead-all this constitutes a compact model of the disciplinary mechanism.” (Focault 227) This is seen when dealing with cybercrimes as well. For instance, if a student is scrolling through their Facebook feed and comes across an act of cyber bullying, they are inclined to inform a member of authority. The student informs their school principal. With the laws that are present today the principal is required to inform authorities of this act of harassment. The act is then investigated further by this higher power and is then consequence accordingly. Schools today are very informant and strict when it comes to cybercrimes, especially involving forms of bullying and harassment. Students today are more likely to be more cautious while on the Internet because they know how easy it is to be identified with modern
technology. The biggest concern for safety of Facebook users is the privacy settings. One has the option to choose whether or not they wish for their profile to be accessible to the public or just people of their choice. This ties into the idea of Focault’s theory that control should be Visible and Unverifiable. Facebook users act according to how they believe their profile viewers would see them in the best way.

Studies show that Facebook users who are more active reveal more personal information, younger classes share more information, students disclose information that is wanted by advertisers, women “self-censor their Facebook data more than men do”, but men generally share less personal information. Is this due to their lack of subjectivity to the panoptic society in which the Internet is existent? Men are more inclined to being socially disruptive on the Internet. One may argue that this is due to their lack of sense of self when it comes to the Internet. “The subject is defined by its place among various social positions: suspect, cop, student, teacher, doctor, patient, electrician.” (Nealon and Giroux 37) The inability of social media users to restrain from becoming so subject to other users is detrimental to society on the Internet. This is where the cybercrimes become more common. Cyber-bullying among students usually erupts due to subjectivity and the desire for attention.