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Speech about the importance, Advantages and disadvantages of the Internet

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Shree Ganeshay Namah

Speech about the importance of the internet

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Internet has acquired a very valuable place in the life of modern man, here is our sample speech about the importance of the Internet with important points.

Points for the speech about the importance of the Internet-

Here are some of the important points of the speech about the importance of the Internet.

  • What is internet
  • Disadvantages

Speech about the importance of the Internet | Advantages, and disadvantages of the Internet

Respected Principal, teachers, and my friends, good morning, my name is Sam Carter. I would like to express my thoughts about the importance of the Internet.

The full form of the internet is the world wide web, written in short as www. Internet is the huge network of computers connected to each other by means of cable all over the world.

Now I would like to tell you about the importance of the Internet, it is a huge store of knowledge and information in the form of various websites. There are crores of websites covering almost all subjects, offices, companies, governments, and blogs. Each website is about single or multiple riches.

When the user types in the address of any website using search engines like Google, yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and Baidu the website opens and the user has access to all the information available. We can get data in the form of articles, pictures, and infographics. Students have a lot of study material. Banks, offices, companies, hospitals research centers can share data. News, entertainment, social media, online education, and a lot more can be accessed through the internet. Truly internet is a boon to modern man.

Every cloud has a dark edge. In the same way, the internet has some disadvantages. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp are addictive and people spend a lot of valuable time on them. Online games like blue whale are misleading the young generation. Online frauds are ruining people’s lives,

So from the above discussion, we can conclude that there are so many disadvantages of the internet. It is the present and future of our modern world. But we need to use it sensibly and carefully otherwise it will cause problems in our lives. Safe browsing under specific restrictions is recommended for all. The internet will be a wish-granting tree for us. Thank you very much for listening to me.

Conclusion-

This is our sample speech about the importance of the Internet.

I hope you will like it.

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23 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet

The Internet is one of the few technologies that doesn’t have a single inventor. It is a series of processes that evolved over time through the efforts of many people. The United States first started using an early version of this connectivity during the Cold War, using it to keep scientists and researchers collaborating with each other.

Now, much of the developed world is fully connected to the Internet, with home usage rates exceeding 90% in some areas. We use this technology for almost anything, and an entire generation can’t imagine life without it because they’ve been using it for all of their lives. Altogether, about one-third of the population uses this resource regularly.

The Internet really began to take off in 1992 when a group of researchers and students at the University of Illinois developed a usable browser. That was the same year that Congress passed laws allowing for this technology to be used for commercial purposes. Now we stay connected with each other through social networking websites, email, direct messaging, and more.

The advantages and disadvantages of the Internet are numerous and individualized. These are some of the critical ideas to review.

List of the Advantages of the Internet

1. The Internet gives us access to knowledge, information, and learning opportunities. The Internet provides us with an endless supply of information that continuously updates. This resource allows us to access knowledge in ways that were never possible in the past. That means we have more learning opportunities that can help us to grow as individuals, professionals, and families than ever before.

When you use a search engine, such as Google or Bing, you can ask almost any question. Then you can be instantly taken to a webpage with relevant answers and data about your query. We can watch millions of videos on a site like YouTube to learn something new, or even take college classes with this resource.

2. It connects us to other people in ways that weren’t possible in the past. If you wanted to communicate with someone without a landline before the Internet, your only option was to write that personal letter. It could take days, and sometimes even months, to receive mail from someone else. Items could get lost during this process, which means your words might never reach the person you were trying to encourage or inform. Because of the technology that is available on the Internet, you can send an email to anyone in the world with delivery in under 60 seconds.

Other forms of communication are also possible because of the Internet, including VoIP services, chat rooms, and direct messaging so that you can have an instant conversation with anyone else who has a connection.

3. Supportive communities develop online because of the Internet. Online forums are one of the best innovations that the Internet provides us to use. These places are a spot where people who share common interests can connect with one another. They can talk about what they enjoy doing, ask questions or offer advice, and take advantage of learning opportunities from experts in their chosen field.

It isn’t a task-orientated benefit either. Forums exist that provide support for health issues, childhood trauma, and domestic violence so that we can all work together to make the world a better place.

4. The Internet helps us to find where we need to go. The Internet works with GPS technology to help map and direct us to almost every destination in the world today. You can go online to quickly route the best path to follow when finding a business in your area that provides the goods or services you require. The search engines that we use are smart enough to understand where you are, even if you are not at home when making a query.

That means the Internet provides you with the most relevant information for each search based on your needs and geographic location. If you have the need to hire a landscaper, then requesting that service will give you a list of local providers and their websites.

5. We can manage our finances more effectively because of the Internet. Instead of receiving a paper statement in the mail, the Internet allows us to access our bank account information at any time. That means you can view your available balance, transfer money between accounts, or pay your bills electronically. It prevents payments from getting lost when you send them with a postal carrier while offering immediate compensation for those who receive the funding. This benefit allows us to save money on stamps, late fees, and other potential penalties.

6. The Internet allows us to shop for what we need online. Online shopping is another significant advantage to consider when evaluating the pros and cons of the Internet. E-commerce platforms let us find goods and services of interest, giving us the option to purchase them online instead of visiting a physical store. It also provides us with an efficient way to compare prices between manufacturers, companies, or platforms to make sure that we get the best price possible.

Public reviews about companies, products, or services give us a way to be confident when making an online purchase. This structure provides us with the advantage of having a better understanding of all of the purchasing decisions we make each day.

7. We can create employment opportunities because of the Internet. The Internet provides us with several ways to find employment. You can decide to be a freelancer and offer services directly to others through a website you own or platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. If you own a business, then a domain allows you to create an e-commerce platform that you can use to buy and sell goods or services. Since the Internet is almost everywhere in the world today, you have more access to potential customers than any local store.

The Internet is always on, even if some websites experience downtime. That means you have the potential to make money at all times because there is always a place in the world experiencing normal business hours. You can advertise what you offer to everyone within the specific demographics you want to reach with very little effort.

8. The Internet provides telecommuting options for employers. Having an Internet connection available makes it possible for people to work from home or to operate a virtual office. Many businesses today allow their workers to use telecommuting as an option if their equipment meets or exceeds required specifications. When employees have an opportunity to avoid a daily commute, then it can help them to save money by avoiding childcare costs while reducing the wear-and-tear on their vehicles.

That means every small business has an opportunity to tap into a global workforce of experts. Even though competition levels are higher than ever because everyone can access the Internet, you also have more scalability options because of the greater access to expertise.

9. Charitable donations are easier to manage because of the Internet. The Internet provides charitable organizations with access to a much wider and more diverse audience. Anyone with a connection can quickly donate to a favorite cause. It is also possible to fund projects or ideas that are interesting or benefit the public in some way with only a couple of clicks. The rise of crowdfunding platforms makes it possible for us to help each other at the same time, with memorial funds and hospital bill campaigns giving us ways to manage the high costs of care – especially in the United States.

The Internet also helps charitable organizations find the online services they need to make their efforts more efficient. These connections can also help them to secure more volunteers to do good things locally.

10. The Internet provides us with plenty of entertainment options. The number of streaming services that are available on the Internet today allows us to have a never-ending amount of content to consume. Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, CBS All Access, Crackle, and many others let us watch our favorite shows and movies for a low price.

The Internet also lets us play games on social networking sites, through platforms like Xbox or PlayStation, and on independent websites. We can listen to music while we are working online. We can even stream our favorite songs or sounds around the house with Bluetooth technology. That’s why not having access to this technology can make life feel boring in many ways.

11. Cloud computing and storage expand our abilities to keep data. The Internet connects your computers and enabled devices to cloud services that include computing and storage. That means you have access to more powerful platforms to complete complex tasks while you or your business continues to work on other tasks. The rise of quantum computing technology is expanding the influence of this advantage, making it possible to create entirely new resources because of how fast the calculations occur.

Cloud storage provides us with the opportunity to synchronize data across your devices. That means you have access to your files from almost anywhere. It is easier than ever before to backup information, making your data secure on professionally-maintained servers. If something happens to your home or business equipment, then you can restore your functionality almost immediately.

12. The Internet of Things helps us to create a smarter world. The Internet makes many of our devices become connected and smarter because of their online design. You can connect a thermostat to control the heating and cooling of your home remotely or automatically. Your locks, lights, and outlets can receive the same upgrade. These improvements lead to a world where we are more efficient with our resources, helping us to save time, energy, and money.

List of the Disadvantages of the Internet

1. What can be used for good can also be used for evil. Anyone who has ever spent some time on the Internet has encountered abusive people. There are trolls, stalkers, and cyberbullying that happens regularly on a variety of platforms. Because it feels like someone can be anonymous when they sit behind a screen or mobile device, the filters that we use when speaking with each other go away. That means a lot of people treat each other unkindly when they are online.

Hidden places on the Internet, such as the deep web, can even make it a place for criminals to conduct business. There isn’t as much of a risk of getting caught, especially when cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can facilitate transactions.

2. Pornography and violence are prevalent on the Internet. Although not everyone would consider this issue a disadvantage, exposing children to violence or pornographic images before they are mature enough to process them can be detrimental to their development. Teens who watch movies or listen to music that glorify specific behaviors are more likely to pursue them in real-life situations. It is an issue that can lead to drug use, drinking, violence, and risky sexualized behaviors.

Children who have sexual intercourse by the age of 13 are more likely to have multiple sexual partners, engage in risky behaviors frequently, and use drugs or alcohol before sex.

3. It creates an addiction to technological devices. Using the Internet can quickly become addictive for many people. You can find a massive amount of information to review, spend time connecting with friends on social networking sites, or play games while at work. Instead of doing something productive, this technology off and promotes something that is frivolous.

21% of employees in the United States say that they spend up to five hours each week on the Internet during working hours doing something that isn’t related to their career. Even when a company has policies in place that block personal websites during working hours, employees can use their personal devices to access the information they want.

4. People struggle to disconnect from work because of the Internet. The average employee, even if they are in an entry-level position, will spend between 3 to 7 hours working outside of their usual shift because of the Internet. Managers and executives put in up to 20 extra hours per week. Being available for work at any time of day due to this technology can make it challenging to transition from professional responsibilities to personal ones.

Even if you are not on the clock, a notification that an important work email is in your inbox creates a temptation to check it. That means workers are often being productive without getting paid for their work.

5. The Internet can provide people with your private information. With billions of computers operating around the world, hackers or malicious users can access accounts through the Internet to locate and steal personal information. These connections allow for a quick scan of millions of computers simultaneously to quickly identify vulnerabilities that are open for exploitation. When someone has your identity information, they can use it in unauthorized ways to gain access to new financial resources.

6. Students can use the Internet to cheat. The Internet allows students of any age to cheat on their tests or find ways to get around assignment requirements. One of the fastest-growing areas of e-commerce that you can find online involves professional writers who get paid to produce essays for high schoolers, college students, and even doctoral candidates.

Even if a student tries to be above board with their work, the prevalence of mobile devices today allows for Internet access while seated in a classroom.

7. The Internet exposes all of us to more advertising. The Internet provides businesses with an opportunity to reach a wider audience than television, radio, or traditional print media. It occurs on such a massive scale that many people tune it out because it is present on every website today. Many find that the amount of spam that goes into their junk mail is much more likely to get sent their way than a meaningful message from someone they know.

That means the amount of information that we receive each day is primarily useless. We delete it from our accounts in the same way that we throw away junk mail when it arrives in our mailbox.

8. Going online can adversely impact a person’s focus and patience. When we use the Internet, then this technology gives us an instant gratification effect. We can find what we want, when we want it, at any time of day. When we receive information through this structure, then it rewards our ability to search for data instead of trying to recall it. This process impacts our interactions in general, making you more impatient and less focused on meaningful activities.

The best way to balance this natural disadvantage of the Internet is to spend time away from it. Focus on having productive, real-life activities that include exercise, time with your family, and other fun events.

9. Frequent Internet use can lead to social isolation. The networking websites that billions of people use regularly can lead to issues of social isolation. It can also create feelings of loneliness or begin the process of forming clinical depression. Although the Internet and online gaming facilitate communication with other people, this structure causes individuals to disconnect themselves from their real-life relationships as they make new connections with people they’ve never met online.

10. Using the Internet often requires a sedentary lifestyle. If you spend too much time sitting, then you are at a higher risk of obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle. Most people use the Internet while on a couch or sitting behind a computer. Unless conscious decisions are made to become more physically active, a host of health problems can start to develop over time.

Using a computer also means that your body must go through repetitive movements frequently. A common injury for those who use the Internet often is called carpal tunnel syndrome. It occurs when you move your hand from your keyboard to a mouse repetitively, followed by similar typing actions. Keeping a correct posture, taking breaks, and understanding the ergonomics of computing can help with these issues, but it may not prevent them from happening.

11. You might decide to purchase things that you don’t really need. The Internet does an excellent job of reducing the barriers that people have when connecting to information or other individuals in real-life situations. That also means the entire online world becomes a place where impulsive purchases become a possibility. Many users find themselves buying things without putting much thought into whether or not they need the products or services in question.

Working with e-commerce platforms can become such an addictive process that it can lead to severe debt in some situations. Since a debit or credit card facilitates these transactions, it can be challenging to some trying to avoid places on the Internet where this issue could occur.

What will the Internet be like in 50 years? In 100 years? We may not know what it can do today, but it will be a life-changing experience.

Some experts say that keyboards, screens, and the mouse will disappear entirely as we use voice-activated systems. Artificial intelligence and machine learning may be technologies that manage multiple facets of our lives. The world may very well become a mix of virtual and reality, and it might be challenging at times to decipher between the two.

We might have real-time access to information about everything. There could be more ways to communicate. It might even be possible to connect humans to the Internet of Things.

The Internet has come a long way since it crashed when trying to send the word “Login” on its first attempt at communication. When we look at its full potential, it is clear to see that we still have a long way to go.

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Speech on Importance Of Internet

The Internet, like a worldwide web, connects you to the rest of the world. It’s like a vast ocean of information, readily available at your fingertips.

Without it, imagine how difficult it would be to send emails, do research, or even make online purchases. The Internet is indeed a valuable tool in our daily lives.

1-minute Speech on Importance Of Internet

Friends, today we’re talking about an essential part of our daily lives – the Internet. Why is it so important? Let’s discuss.

The Internet makes our world smaller. Think about it. We can talk to anyone, anywhere, any time. You can chat with your friend from the next city or even from the other side of the world. The Internet erases the lines on the map, making us all neighbors.

Learning is easier with the Internet. Type a question into Google and you get your answer. No more thick, heavy books. No more long walks to the library. The Internet is like a giant teacher that knows everything. It’s a school that’s open 24/7, waiting for you to learn.

The Internet helps us do things faster. Paying bills, shopping, booking tickets – all done with a few clicks. No long lines, no waiting. It’s like having a magic wand that gets things done instantly.

But the Internet also has a heart. It helps us during tough times. When floods, fires, or sickness come, we can use the Internet to ask for help. It brings us together, helping us care for each other.

In conclusion, the Internet is more than just wires and screens. It’s a tool that brings us closer, makes our lives easier, and helps us when we’re in need. It’s a friend, a teacher, a helper. It’s a part of our lives that’s here to stay. Let’s use it wisely and make the most of what it offers.

2-minute Speech on Importance Of Internet

Good day to you all!

Let’s talk about something that surrounds us every day, the Internet. Imagine a world without it. Tough, isn’t it? That’s because the Internet has become a crucial part of our lives. It’s like a giant invisible web that links us all, no matter where we are.

First, let’s talk about communication. Gone are the days when we had to wait weeks for a letter. Now, we can instantly send messages, photos, and even video calls to anyone, anywhere. It’s like having a magic tool that helps us talk to our friends, family, or even strangers around the world.

Next, let’s talk about learning. The Internet is like a vast ocean of knowledge. Whether it’s homework help, learning a new language, or even cooking a new dish, the Internet has answers to all our questions. It’s like a huge library that’s open 24/7. We can learn new things and improve our skills, all thanks to the Internet.

Now, let’s discuss entertainment. From listening to music, watching movies, playing games, to exploring new places virtually, the Internet offers endless fun. It’s like a playground where we can enjoy and relax whenever we want.

Also, we can’t forget about shopping. The Internet has made buying things a breeze. We can purchase anything, from clothes, food, gadgets, to even furniture, without leaving our home. It’s like having a giant shopping mall at our fingertips.

Lastly, let’s talk about how the Internet helps us stay updated. Whether it’s news about our city, country, or the world, the Internet keeps us informed. It’s like a big newspaper that updates itself every second.

In conclusion, the Internet is a powerful tool that has transformed our lives. It helps us communicate, learn, entertain ourselves, shop, and stay updated. It’s like a magic wand that can fulfill our needs and wants. But remember, like all powerful tools, we should use the Internet responsibly.

Thank you for your time. Remember, the Internet is not just a network of computers, it’s a network of possibilities. Embrace it, use it wisely, and it will open doors to a world of opportunities.

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  • Speech on Internet for Students and Children

Speech on Internet

Very good morning to all. Today, I am here to present a speech on internet. Someone has rightly said that the world is a small place. With the advent of the internet, this saying seems realistic. The internet has really bought the world together and the distance between two persons is really not a distance today. We all know about the technological advancements happening in the world. One of the major attributes of technological advancement is the internet. Today the internet is available easily to many individuals. Also, it is rapidly changing the way we work, travel, educate and entertain.

Speech on Internet

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Evolution of Internet

Many of you are aware of what the internet facility is. Still, I would like to highlight the aspects of the internet. The internet is a facility wherein two gadget screens are connected through signals. Thus, through this medium, the information can be exchanged between two gadgets.

The history of the internet dates back to 40 years ago with its first use in the United States of America and the inventor of the internet was Robert E.Kahn and Vint Cerf. Earlier the internet was only used to send emails between two computers. Today it has reached all distant parts of the globe with more than 1.5 million users. They use the internet for exchange of information, entertainment, money exchanges, etc.

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Pros of the Internet

The internet facility has many advantages and it has proved to be a milestone in the technical advancement of humankind. It allows users to exchange and communicate information. Two users who are sitting in distant corners of the world can easily communicate through mails, chats, and video conferencing by using the internet.

It provides information of all kinds to its users. Also, it provides entertainment by offering services of watching movies, listening to music, playing a game. Various day to day activities such as travel ticket bookings, banking facilities, shopping, etc. can be easily done through the internet.

Nowadays the internet also offers various dating websites and matrimonial websites by which one can find their prospective soul mate.

The Internet also offers a facility to its users where they can earn online by means of blogs and video blogs. These are some of the major benefits of the internet has a dark side also.

Cons of the Internet

Many a number of people misuse information for fraud and illegal works. Due to excessive use of the internet in the wrong hands, a number of cybercrimes are happening which is affecting the trust of the people on the internet.

Abuse over social media is also prevailing through the internet wherein people of negative mentality abuse other people on the basis of caste, race, color, appearance, etc. Addiction to online games is one of the major problems of parents today as children get addicted to online games and avoid their studies and outdoor activities.

The internet has nowadays become such an important part of the life of the people that it is hardly possible to spend even a day without using the internet. Thus after seeing the negatives of the internet, it is not practically possible to completely avoid the internet. However, we can put a timeline or restriction on its usage especially to children.

The parents and teachers can monitor the online activities of their children and guide them on the proper use of the internet. We should also educate and aware people of online cybercrime and fraud. Thus through proper precautions and adopting safety measures the internet can prove to be a boon for the development of human society.

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  • Speech on The Internet

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Long Speech on the Internet

A heartfelt welcome to all of you present. I want to take this opportunity and share a few thoughts with you about the internet. 

The ushering of the 21st century has brought about a host of changes, the advent of the internet being one of them. To put it in simpler terms, the internet is a virtual network that allows connections on a global scale by means of the world wide web. The internet has ushered in an era of revolution allowing fast connectivity and a whirlpool of resources and information at one’s disposal. The internet has, in true meaning, made the world smaller on a global scale. 

As the new millennium progressed, the internet became an indispensable tool. The ease of finding information, the ability to connect instantly became so ingrained in people that imagining a life without the internet seems nearly impossible these days. The internet has brought about many benefits. With a boom in the technological sector, it has created a host of jobs in various fields. Work which in the pre-internet era would require a significant amount of time could be done within a matter of hours. People nowadays no longer have to wait for days or months to be able to communicate with someone. Facilities such as banking, financial transactions, purchasing, have all been made streamlined owing to the internet. 

As seen in recent years, the educational sector has also witnessed a major shift, be it the availability of resources or in delivering information, all due to the use of the internet. The vast repository of information available on the internet has enabled the development of quicker and more efficient learning modules and outcomes. Online learning has become the new norm these days. Moreover, the use of the internet has allowed for a more holistic approach to learning with learners now able to audio-visualize as they gather new knowledge and information. The internet, in short, has become a new learning tool. 

We must, however, be aware of the fact that with its many advantages, the internet has also brought about a host of disadvantages. The personal information out there on the internet always remains at the risk of falling into the wrong hands. Cybercrimes are a common occurrence these days, ranging from the hacking of personal records for harming someone in particular to the commitment of major banking frauds. 

In my concluding remarks, I would like to say that the internet has become both the boon and bane of our existence. To quote, ‘the internet is a necessary evil’. So it is up to us how we make the most out of it all, ensuring that no other individual is adversely affected because of the same. It also remains our responsibility to safeguard our information to the maximum extent possible and prevent it from being misused in any way. As we make significant strides in the advancement of civilization, it is important that we make use of the internet for the betterment of society as a whole. 

Short Speech

Speech on the internet.

A warm welcome to all the esteemed ladies and gentlemen. I would like to share a few words on the topic of the internet. 

The Internet has become the grain of our existence in the modern-day world. From studies to pharmaceuticals, to groceries to banking, we have the privilege of having the entire world at our fingertips, thanks to the internet. People across the globe are connected today by means of what is known as the world wide web, or popularly, the internet. Gone are the days when people had to wait for hours, weeks or even months to hear from their beloved ones. With the advent of the internet, we can now connect to someone within a matter of minutes. 

The era of the internet ushered in with the dawn of the new millennium. What started with the big metropolitan cities, is not available in even the remotest villages. The internet has brought about a revolution in several industrial sectors. In recent years, the education industry also saw a major shift owing to the prevalence of the internet. However, with everything good going on, the usage of the internet has also brought along the ill effects. Practices such as cybercrimes, online fraudulent activity, hacking, etc. are on the rise. Such has been the extent of the ill-effects of the internet that people had to lose their lives as well. 

So, as we move forward with the use of the internet in our day-to-day lives, we must make sure to remain vigilant and safe in order to not fall prey or indulge in any sort of harmful practices. The Internet can prove to be a great boon if used judiciously. 

10 Lines Speech

Hello to everyone present. Today, I am going to present a speech on the internet. 

The internet, as we all know, is a vast network that connects people across the world. The Internet allows us to have a wide range of information on any topic with just a simple click. In addition to information, the internet also helps us to communicate with people across the world. The internet serves as the connecting point for millions of devices by means of the world wide web. The Internet has proven to be very beneficial in our daily lives. Be it obtaining knowledge or information, purchasing commodities, or making payments, everything has become much simpler with the internet. However, there are also various ill-effects of the internet taking place by means of online fraud, loss of personal information, etc.

To conclude, I would like to say that the internet has both its advantages and disadvantages. It is up to us to make the best of it and use it wisely. 

Hello everyone.

Today I am here to present my views on the internet. The Internet today has become a necessity. Only a few years ago, it was a luxury only a few could afford. But with the development of technology, the internet has been made accessible and feasible to everyone in society. With the worldwide web(WWW) being its biggest service, it is now connecting millions of people all over the world. The Internet is one of the crucial inventions of humankind. The development of the internet has led to recent media replacing traditional newspapers and journalism. It has led to instant messaging and video communication replacing postcards and manually written letters. 

Traditional cinema has been replaced by OTT platforms serving entertainment at the comfort of one’s house. The Internet has replaced offline stores as well. With all the development that has happened over the years due to the invention of the internet, One cannot simply assume that there are no ill effects of it. 

The whole world is connected via the internet. It is a good thing, it also means that quality time with friends and family in person holds less value, and there is no escape from work. 

The Internet is addictive, and if there are no proper boundaries for using it, It can cause ill effects on the human mind as well as other areas of life. Lack of sleep is a common problem seen in students today. Social media and the rise of video platforms like youtube have only made it difficult to restrict the use of the internet.

 I do want to shed some light on the advantages of the internet. The internet is by far the most amazing invention.

Overflow of Information

The Internet is the sea of abundant information. The information that has been searched for is just one google search away. There is a tonne of resources available for anything that is needed. Be it any query or a recipe or a course of photography, one can always find a solution to the internet.

Education for All

In the era of online learning, not only are the students benefited by the internet, but also the people who do not have the time to attend classes in person. So many housewives have turned to their hobbies by joining online classes, The students can now get viable information on any subject by surfing the internet. The Internet comes in handy when one needs to know things fast, and now. Education is accessible for all now and this is the boon of the internet. Teachers can teach via online portals no matter where they are in the world. They can also upload pre-recorded videos online so that the students can watch them at their convenience. One can learn any skill they wish to learn and the internet has at least one or two resources or courses regarding the same. 

Online Services

With the online world dominating the internet, Every domain has come under the influence of it, even the services industry as well. With just one click one can order restaurant-cooked food, buy new clothes and book a spa appointment, and also consult a doctor. This convenience provided by the internet has helped humans do more things and not waste time. The best examples include Flipkart, Amazon, and Zomato. Buying and ordering things online has become easy and accessible to all. Even emails can be delivered with just one click, and money transfers can be done on the computers and one need not visit the bank for it.

Social Media

The one thing that has to be highlighted while talking about the internet is the importance of social media.

Social media’s rapid growth has made us feel connected. We are just one click away from talking to the person staying across the globe. Platforms like Youtube, Instagram, Facebook let you share your story, and ideas over the internet free of cost. They bring forth the creativity of humans. 

Online Business

The trend of online businesses is not just a trend anymore, they are replacing the traditional business run from the brick and mortar stores. Every business right now has a website and an online store. It is so convenient to market the business when it has a social media presence. The business can make a name globally and reach more target audiences, and this will in turn help in making profits. 

The internet has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. Although, it is upon the user to be cautious, to not overindulge on the internet. For everything is turned into a disadvantage when not done with precautions. Setting healthy boundaries around the usage of the internet can be super beneficial in the long term.

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  • Speech Topics For Kids

Speech on Internet

The term ‘internet’ is a commonly discussed topic because of its prominence in today’s world. It is also one of the topics that is chosen for speeches. Now, if you are asked to write a speech on internet, what points would you include? Confused! Well, this article will walk you through all the points that you can include in your speech. Check it out.

Table of Contents

Speech on the importance of internet, disadvantages of internet.

  • FAQs on Speech on the Internet

The internet has become an indispensable part of everyday life. The internet was first invented by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf . While internet has many advantages, it does have disadvantages too. The following section speaks about the advantages of the internet.

  • Free material availability – Many students can’t afford expensive books, so the internet serves as the best way for them to avail free study materials. The internet gives scope to many kids to go through various study materials and choose from a wide range of information.
  • Facilitates online learning – With the COVID-19, study and work became completely online. The availability of the internet is what allowed students to attend classes, sitting at their homes. This made learning possible even in the midst of the pandemic.
  • Connects people from far and wide – Many of our family members and friends stay at different places and with the internet, it has become easy for us to catch up with them through video calls or emails. Before this, people had to pay a huge amount of money to connect with their beloved ones who were living far away from them.
  • Start a business – Many of you might have heard about online business. If one is planning to start a small business, one can easily do so with the internet.

A good speech on the internet will include both advantages and disadvantages. You already what the advantages are; now, let us look at some of the disadvantages of the internet.

  • Overuse – One of the disadvantages is overuse. The internet has always attracted more and more people from the time of its existence. The pandemic just elevated this situation. With the introduction of online classes, students got to use their phones for a longer time, which in turn, increased their screen hours. This is true in the case of adults as well.
  • Loss of creativity and imagination – With the internet giving answers to every question people have and giving ideas for any topic, the creative and imaginative intellect of children and adults alike have drastically dropped. Most often, it is not being used at all.

The internet has, for sure, opened doors to multiple possibilities. It has a lot that can teach you about anything and everything under the sun. It is in the hands of the users to use it wisely and beneficially, without causing any harm to the others.

Frequently Asked Questions on Speech on Internet

Who invented the internet.

The internet was first invented by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf.

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Speech On Internet - 10 Lines, Short and Long Speech

The Internet is regarded as one of the greatest human inventions. The Internet has changed the way people work and live for the better. It assisted us in reducing distance, breaking down all human-made barriers, and bringing the world to our fingertips. The Internet has become a worldwide medium.

10- Lines Speech On The Internet

The Internet is a network of networks that connects everyone via satellite, telephone lines, and optical fibre connections.

With a single click, you can access a world of information.

The Internet connects millions of computers to the worldwide electronic community.

The Internet assists us in gathering information by storing it on servers known as websites.

We may readily read books online by visiting libraries.

The Internet is in charge of delivering information to our doorstep. All we need is a phone or a laptop with Internet access.

With the assistance of the Internet, any financial transactions and banking can be sent and received.

But, for all of its virtues, the Internet has its drawbacks. Data and personal information leakage are one of the drawbacks.

Malicious information on social media can cause disruptions.

Online financial fraud is a common occurrence that we are unaware of.

Speech On Internet - 10 Lines, Short and Long Speech

Short Speech On the Internet

Nobody among us is unfamiliar with the Internet. It was invented 40 years ago by Robert E. Kahn and Vint Cerf and was initially used to send emails in the United States. Today, the world has 3.5 billion users, and you are one of them. When it comes to internet usage, it has yet to be explored.

How Internet Has Changed The World

We can now book our trip tickets online, eliminating the need to stand in line. We can shop from many possibilities while sitting at home; we don't need to go to the market. We can also seek doctors' advice, who are only a click away. Even students nowadays rely only on online resources to learn. Not only that, but the Internet has entirely revolutionised the way we used to live. You will all agree that it has made our lives easier and more comfortable.

We all know, however, that a coin has two sides, one good and one terrible. Illegal activities, fraud, and cybercrime are expanding daily. People are spending time on the Internet rather than using it productively. People have begun to live a virtual life without awareness of the real world. Children spend more time playing online games than participating in physical activities.

The Internet is one of humanity's greatest inventions that can be used for the global development of humankind.

Long Speech On the Internet

The Internet has connected the world and that distance between people is no longer an issue. The Internet is one of the most important aspects of technological progress occurring all around the world. It is transforming how people work, educate themselves, travel, and entertain themselves, and it is easily accessible to many people.

The Internet's function is to connect two or more gadget screens that may communicate via signals, allowing information to be transmitted through this medium. The Internet was initially used forty years ago in the United States of America. Robert E. Kahn and Vint Cerf created the Internet. Initially, the Internet was used to send emails between two computers, but it has already successfully touched every corner of the globe.

Advantages Of Internet

The Internet has numerous benefits and has proven to be a valuable contribution to humankind's technological advancement.

It allows users to connect with their relatives even if they are far away, and you can instantly connect with them via chats, video conferencing, and emails.

It allows users to collect various types of information and offers moving services such as watching movies, playing games, and listening to music.

Online banking, airline ticket booking, shopping, and other services are among the benefits of the Internet.

Disadvantages Of Internet

The use of the Internet for fraud and illicit purposes is rising daily.

The rate of cybercrime is rapidly increasing, eroding people's trust in the Internet, primarily due to the misuse of the Internet.

People attack others on social networking sites based on caste, colour, race, attractiveness, etc. One concern parents encounter is their children being addicted to computer gaming, avoiding schoolwork, and avoiding outside activities.

How To Be Careful Over The Internet

The Internet plays an essential role in people's daily lives, and it is nearly impossible for us to go a day without it. So, even though we know the Internet's detrimental effects, we cannot avoid it. So, we can set a time limit for its use, primarily for minors.

Parents and teachers must monitor and guide children on proper Internet usage. Educating and alerting people about online fraud and cybercrime is part of our responsibilities, and there are severe repercussions for internet fraud. As a result, with adequate understanding and prudence, the Internet can be a blessing to human society's growth.

Around 2006, I was 5, and my mum showed me Google for the first time. She connected to the Internet and demonstrated what Google is. I was delighted and enthusiastic about the unlimited possibilities, but Google didn't have any "Did you mean" tabs back then, and my spelling was terrible, so I had to ask my mother to search for me. I recall the first thing I asked my Mom to Google was "How are Diamonds formed?" and forcing her to read it to me. That was my first experience when I encountered the Internet.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

  • Construction
  • Entertainment
  • Manufacturing
  • Information Technology

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Investment Banker

An Investment Banking career involves the invention and generation of capital for other organizations, governments, and other entities. Individuals who opt for a career as Investment Bankers are the head of a team dedicated to raising capital by issuing bonds. Investment bankers are termed as the experts who have their fingers on the pulse of the current financial and investing climate. Students can pursue various Investment Banker courses, such as Banking and Insurance , and  Economics to opt for an Investment Banking career path.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Operations manager.

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Bank Probationary Officer (PO)

Welding engineer.

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.

Construction Manager

Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.

Urban Planner

Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities. 

Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Naval Architect

A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

Pathologist.

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Videographer

Multimedia specialist.

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). 

Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French , German , Italian . 

Public Relation Executive

Travel journalist.

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

Merchandiser.

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Metallurgical Engineer

A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Business Intelligence Developer

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Internet Improves Lives| Benefits of the internet

14 Ways the Internet Improves Our Lives

  • March 1, 2022
  • Advocacy , General

The internet is a near ubiquitous aspect of modern life — making it easy to take for granted all the skills, tools, opportunities, and benefits that it provides. In celebration of CTN’s 14 years of digital inclusion work, we’ve compiled 14 ways that internet access and digital skills can improve someone’s quality of life and h ow the internet helps us in our daily life.

14 Benefits of the Internet and How the Internet Has Made Society Better:

Providing better access to health information and options., making it easier to communicate with friends and family..

the Internet has made it easier to communicate with friends and family

Offering a wealth of online activities and experiences to enjoy remotely.

Promoting workforce development skills., increasing access to social services and benefits., decreasing isolation and loneliness., empowering people with a sense of agency., improving education and learning opportunities..

the Internet has improved education and learning opportunities

Participating in democracy and civic duties.

Searching and applying for jobs., maintaining curiosity, finding new interests, and pursuing hobbies., improving the economy for everyone., strengthening communities and social ties., creating a better world..

the internet has made the world a better place

While the benefits of the internet and technology are clear, accessing them is still a challenge for millions of Americans. This means we must work to build an equitable and inclusive internet that improves the lives of all people — regardless of their age, income level, or primary language. Want to help us expand digital equity and inclusion? Check out our volunteer and partner opportunities to get involved!

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Education: a New Learning Curve

Louis leakey and human evolution emerging out of africa, openmind books, scientific anniversaries, technosols: customised soils to revive the earth and perhaps conquer other worlds, featured author, latest book, the impact of the internet on society: a global perspective, introduction.

The Internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age, as the electrical engine was the vector of technological transformation of the Industrial Age. This global network of computer networks, largely based nowadays on platforms of wireless communication, provides ubiquitous capacity of multimodal, interactive communication in chosen time, transcending space. The Internet is not really a new technology: its ancestor, the Arpanet, was first deployed in 1969 (Abbate 1999). But it was in the 1990s when it was privatized and released from the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce that it diffused around the world at extraordinary speed: in 1996 the first survey of Internet users counted about 40 million; in 2013 they are over 2.5 billion, with China accounting for the largest number of Internet users. Furthermore, for some time the spread of the Internet was limited by the difficulty to lay out land-based telecommunications infrastructure in the emerging countries. This has changed with the explosion of wireless communication in the early twenty-first century. Indeed, in 1991, there were about 16 million subscribers of wireless devices in the world, in 2013 they are close to 7 billion (in a planet of 7.7 billion human beings). Counting on the family and village uses of mobile phones, and taking into consideration the limited use of these devices among children under five years of age, we can say that humankind is now almost entirely connected, albeit with great levels of inequality in the bandwidth as well as in the efficiency and price of the service.

At the heart of these communication networks the Internet ensures the production, distribution, and use of digitized information in all formats. According to the study published by Martin Hilbert in Science (Hilbert and López 2011), 95 percent of all information existing in the planet is digitized and most of it is accessible on the Internet and other computer networks.

The speed and scope of the transformation of our communication environment by Internet and wireless communication has triggered all kind of utopian and dystopian perceptions around the world.

As in all moments of major technological change, people, companies, and institutions feel the depth of the change, but they are often overwhelmed by it, out of sheer ignorance of its effects.

The media aggravate the distorted perception by dwelling into scary reports on the basis of anecdotal observation and biased commentary. If there is a topic in which social sciences, in their diversity, should contribute to the full understanding of the world in which we live, it is precisely the area that has come to be named in academia as Internet Studies. Because, in fact, academic research knows a great deal on the interaction between Internet and society, on the basis of methodologically rigorous empirical research conducted in a plurality of cultural and institutional contexts. Any process of major technological change generates its own mythology. In part because it comes into practice before scientists can assess its effects and implications, so there is always a gap between social change and its understanding. For instance, media often report that intense use of the Internet increases the risk of alienation, isolation, depression, and withdrawal from society. In fact, available evidence shows that there is either no relationship or a positive cumulative relationship between the Internet use and the intensity of sociability. We observe that, overall, the more sociable people are, the more they use the Internet. And the more they use the Internet, the more they increase their sociability online and offline, their civic engagement, and the intensity of family and friendship relationships, in all cultures—with the exception of a couple of early studies of the Internet in the 1990s, corrected by their authors later (Castells 2001; Castells et al. 2007; Rainie and Wellman 2012; Center for the Digital Future 2012 et al.).

Thus, the purpose of this chapter will be to summarize some of the key research findings on the social effects of the Internet relying on the evidence provided by some of the major institutions specialized in the social study of the Internet. More specifically, I will be using the data from the world at large: the World Internet Survey conducted by the Center for the Digital Future, University of Southern California; the reports of the British Computer Society (BCS), using data from the World Values Survey of the University of Michigan; the Nielsen reports for a variety of countries; and the annual reports from the International Telecommunications Union. For data on the United States, I have used the Pew American Life and Internet Project of the Pew Institute. For the United Kingdom, the Oxford Internet Survey from the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, as well as the Virtual Society Project from the Economic and Social Science Research Council. For Spain, the Project Internet Catalonia of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC); the various reports on the information society from Telefónica; and from the Orange Foundation. For Portugal, the Observatório de Sociedade da Informação e do Conhecimento (OSIC) in Lisbon. I would like to emphasize that most of the data in these reports converge toward similar trends. Thus I have selected for my analysis the findings that complement and reinforce each other, offering a consistent picture of the human experience on the Internet in spite of the human diversity.

Given the aim of this publication to reach a broad audience, I will not present in this text the data supporting the analysis presented here. Instead, I am referring the interested reader to the web sources of the research organizations mentioned above, as well as to selected bibliographic references discussing the empirical foundation of the social trends reported here.

Technologies of Freedom, the Network Society, and the Culture of Autonomy

In order to fully understand the effects of the Internet on society, we should remember that technology is material culture. It is produced in a social process in a given institutional environment on the basis of the ideas, values, interests, and knowledge of their producers, both their early producers and their subsequent producers. In this process we must include the users of the technology, who appropriate and adapt the technology rather than adopting it, and by so doing they modify it and produce it in an endless process of interaction between technological production and social use. So, to assess the relevance of Internet in society we must recall the specific characteristics of Internet as a technology. Then we must place it in the context of the transformation of the overall social structure, as well as in relationship to the culture characteristic of this social structure. Indeed, we live in a new social structure, the global network society, characterized by the rise of a new culture, the culture of autonomy.

Internet is a technology of freedom, in the terms coined by Ithiel de Sola Pool in 1973, coming from a libertarian culture, paradoxically financed by the Pentagon for the benefit of scientists, engineers, and their students, with no direct military application in mind (Castells 2001). The expansion of the Internet from the mid-1990s onward resulted from the combination of three main factors:

  • The technological discovery of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee and his willingness to distribute the source code to improve it by the open-source contribution of a global community of users, in continuity with the openness of the TCP/IP Internet protocols. The web keeps running under the same principle of open source. And two-thirds of web servers are operated by Apache, an open-source server program.
  • Institutional change in the management of the Internet, keeping it under the loose management of the global Internet community, privatizing it, and allowing both commercial uses and cooperative uses.
  • Major changes in social structure, culture, and social behavior: networking as a prevalent organizational form; individuation as the main orientation of social behavior; and the culture of autonomy as the culture of the network society.

I will elaborate on these major trends.

Our society is a network society; that is, a society constructed around personal and organizational networks powered by digital networks and communicated by the Internet. And because networks are global and know no boundaries, the network society is a global network society. This historically specific social structure resulted from the interaction between the emerging technological paradigm based on the digital revolution and some major sociocultural changes. A primary dimension of these changes is what has been labeled the rise of the Me-centered society, or, in sociological terms, the process of individuation, the decline of community understood in terms of space, work, family, and ascription in general. This is not the end of community, and not the end of place-based interaction, but there is a shift toward the reconstruction of social relationships, including strong cultural and personal ties that could be considered a form of community, on the basis of individual interests, values, and projects.

The process of individuation is not just a matter of cultural evolution, it is materially produced by the new forms of organizing economic activities, and social and political life, as I analyzed in my trilogy on the Information Age (Castells 1996–2003). It is based on the transformation of space (metropolitan life), work and economic activity (rise of the networked enterprise and networked work processes), culture and communication (shift from mass communication based on mass media to mass self-communication based on the Internet); on the crisis of the patriarchal family, with increasing autonomy of its individual members; the substitution of media politics for mass party politics; and globalization as the selective networking of places and processes throughout the planet.

But individuation does not mean isolation, or even less the end of community. Sociability is reconstructed as networked individualism and community through a quest for like-minded individuals in a process that combines online interaction with offline interaction, cyberspace and the local space. Individuation is the key process in constituting subjects (individual or collective), networking is the organizational form constructed by these subjects; this is the network society, and the form of sociability is what Rainie and Wellman (2012) conceptualized as networked individualism. Network technologies are of course the medium for this new social structure and this new culture (Papacharissi 2010).

As stated above, academic research has established that the Internet does not isolate people, nor does it reduce their sociability; it actually increases sociability, as shown by myself in my studies in Catalonia (Castells 2007), Rainie and Wellman in the United States (2012), Cardoso in Portugal (2010), and the World Internet Survey for the world at large (Center for the Digital Future 2012 et al.). Furthermore, a major study by Michael Willmott for the British Computer Society (Trajectory Partnership 2010) has shown a positive correlation, for individuals and for countries, between the frequency and intensity of the use of the Internet and the psychological indicators of personal happiness. He used global data for 35,000 people obtained from the World Wide Survey of the University of Michigan from 2005 to 2007. Controlling for other factors, the study showed that Internet use empowers people by increasing their feelings of security, personal freedom, and influence, all feelings that have a positive effect on happiness and personal well-being. The effect is particularly positive for people with lower income and who are less qualified, for people in the developing world, and for women. Age does not affect the positive relationship; it is significant for all ages. Why women? Because they are at the center of the network of their families, Internet helps them to organize their lives. Also, it helps them to overcome their isolation, particularly in patriarchal societies. The Internet also contributes to the rise of the culture of autonomy.

The key for the process of individuation is the construction of autonomy by social actors, who become subjects in the process. They do so by defining their specific projects in interaction with, but not submission to, the institutions of society. This is the case for a minority of individuals, but because of their capacity to lead and mobilize they introduce a new culture in every domain of social life: in work (entrepreneurship), in the media (the active audience), in the Internet (the creative user), in the market (the informed and proactive consumer), in education (students as informed critical thinkers, making possible the new frontier of e-learning and m-learning pedagogy), in health (the patient-centered health management system) in e-government (the informed, participatory citizen), in social movements (cultural change from the grassroots, as in feminism or environmentalism), and in politics (the independent-minded citizen able to participate in self-generated political networks).

There is increasing evidence of the direct relationship between the Internet and the rise of social autonomy. From 2002 to 2007 I directed in Catalonia one of the largest studies ever conducted in Europe on the Internet and society, based on 55,000 interviews, one-third of them face to face (IN3 2002–07). As part of this study, my collaborators and I compared the behavior of Internet users to non-Internet users in a sample of 3,000 people, representative of the population of Catalonia. Because in 2003 only about 40 percent of people were Internet users we could really compare the differences in social behavior for users and non-users, something that nowadays would be more difficult given the 79 percent penetration rate of the Internet in Catalonia. Although the data are relatively old, the findings are not, as more recent studies in other countries (particularly in Portugal) appear to confirm the observed trends. We constructed scales of autonomy in different dimensions. Only between 10 and 20 percent of the population, depending on dimensions, were in the high level of autonomy. But we focused on this active segment of the population to explore the role of the Internet in the construction of autonomy. Using factor analysis we identified six major types of autonomy based on projects of individuals according to their practices:

a) professional development b) communicative autonomy c) entrepreneurship d) autonomy of the body e) sociopolitical participation f) personal, individual autonomy

These six types of autonomous practices were statistically independent among themselves. But each one of them correlated positively with Internet use in statistically significant terms, in a self-reinforcing loop (time sequence): the more one person was autonomous, the more she/he used the web, and the more she/he used the web, the more autonomous she/he became (Castells et al. 2007). This is a major empirical finding. Because if the dominant cultural trend in our society is the search for autonomy, and if the Internet powers this search, then we are moving toward a society of assertive individuals and cultural freedom, regardless of the barriers of rigid social organizations inherited from the Industrial Age. From this Internet-based culture of autonomy have emerged a new kind of sociability, networked sociability, and a new kind of sociopolitical practice, networked social movements and networked democracy. I will now turn to the analysis of these two fundamental trends at the source of current processes of social change worldwide.

The Rise of Social Network Sites on the Internet

Since 2002 (creation of Friendster, prior to Facebook) a new socio-technical revolution has taken place on the Internet: the rise of social network sites where now all human activities are present, from personal interaction to business, to work, to culture, to communication, to social movements, and to politics.

Social Network Sites are web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

(Boyd and Ellison 2007, 2)

Social networking uses, in time globally spent, surpassed e-mail in November 2007. It surpassed e-mail in number of users in July 2009. In terms of users it reached 1 billion by September 2010, with Facebook accounting for about half of it. In 2013 it has almost doubled, particularly because of increasing use in China, India, and Latin America. There is indeed a great diversity of social networking sites (SNS) by countries and cultures. Facebook, started for Harvard-only members in 2004, is present in most of the world, but QQ, Cyworld, and Baidu dominate in China; Orkut in Brazil; Mixi in Japan; etc. In terms of demographics, age is the main differential factor in the use of SNS, with a drop of frequency of use after 50 years of age, and particularly 65. But this is not just a teenager’s activity. The main Facebook U.S. category is in the age group 35–44, whose frequency of use of the site is higher than for younger people. Nearly 60 percent of adults in the U.S. have at least one SNS profile, 30 percent two, and 15 percent three or more. Females are as present as males, except when in a society there is a general gender gap. We observe no differences in education and class, but there is some class specialization of SNS, such as Myspace being lower than FB; LinkedIn is for professionals.

Thus, the most important activity on the Internet at this point in time goes through social networking, and SNS have become the chosen platforms for all kind of activities, not just personal friendships or chatting, but for marketing, e-commerce, education, cultural creativity, media and entertainment distribution, health applications, and sociopolitical activism. This is a significant trend for society at large. Let me explore the meaning of this trend on the basis of the still scant evidence.

Social networking sites are constructed by users themselves building on specific criteria of grouping. There is entrepreneurship in the process of creating sites, then people choose according to their interests and projects. Networks are tailored by people themselves with different levels of profiling and privacy. The key to success is not anonymity, but on the contrary, self-presentation of a real person connecting to real people (in some cases people are excluded from the SNS when they fake their identity). So, it is a self-constructed society by networking connecting to other networks. But this is not a virtual society. There is a close connection between virtual networks and networks in life at large. This is a hybrid world, a real world, not a virtual world or a segregated world.

People build networks to be with others, and to be with others they want to be with on the basis of criteria that include those people who they already know (a selected sub-segment). Most users go on the site every day. It is permanent connectivity. If we needed an answer to what happened to sociability in the Internet world, here it is:

There is a dramatic increase in sociability, but a different kind of sociability, facilitated and dynamized by permanent connectivity and social networking on the web.

Based on the time when Facebook was still releasing data (this time is now gone) we know that in 2009 users spent 500 billion minutes per month. This is not just about friendship or interpersonal communication. People do things together, share, act, exactly as in society, although the personal dimension is always there. Thus, in the U.S. 38 percent of adults share content, 21 percent remix, 14 percent blog, and this is growing exponentially, with development of technology, software, and SNS entrepreneurial initiatives. On Facebook, in 2009 the average user was connected to 60 pages, groups, and events, people interacted per month to 160 million objects (pages, groups, events), the average user created 70 pieces of content per month, and there were 25 billion pieces of content shared per month (web links, news stories, blogs posts, notes, photos). SNS are living spaces connecting all dimensions of people’s experience. This transforms culture because people share experience with a low emotional cost, while saving energy and effort. They transcend time and space, yet they produce content, set up links, and connect practices. It is a constantly networked world in every dimension of human experience. They co-evolve in permanent, multiple interaction. But they choose the terms of their co-evolution.

Thus, people live their physical lives but increasingly connect on multiple dimensions in SNS.

Paradoxically, the virtual life is more social than the physical life, now individualized by the organization of work and urban living.

But people do not live a virtual reality, indeed it is a real virtuality, since social practices, sharing, mixing, and living in society is facilitated in the virtuality, in what I called time ago the “space of flows” (Castells 1996).

Because people are increasingly at ease in the multi-textuality and multidimensionality of the web, marketers, work organizations, service agencies, government, and civil society are migrating massively to the Internet, less and less setting up alternative sites, more and more being present in the networks that people construct by themselves and for themselves, with the help of Internet social networking entrepreneurs, some of whom become billionaires in the process, actually selling freedom and the possibility of the autonomous construction of lives. This is the liberating potential of the Internet made material practice by these social networking sites. The largest of these social networking sites are usually bounded social spaces managed by a company. However, if the company tries to impede free communication it may lose many of its users, because the entry barriers in this industry are very low. A couple of technologically savvy youngsters with little capital can set up a site on the Internet and attract escapees from a more restricted Internet space, as happened to AOL and other networking sites of the first generation, and as could happen to Facebook or any other SNS if they are tempted to tinker with the rules of openness (Facebook tried to make users pay and retracted within days). So, SNS are often a business, but they are in the business of selling freedom, free expression, chosen sociability. When they tinker with this promise they risk their hollowing by net citizens migrating with their friends to more friendly virtual lands.

Perhaps the most telling expression of this new freedom is the transformation of sociopolitical practices on the Internet.

Communication Power: Mass-Self Communication and the Transformation of Politics

Power and counterpower, the foundational relationships of society, are constructed in the human mind, through the construction of meaning and the processing of information according to certain sets of values and interests (Castells 2009).

Ideological apparatuses and the mass media have been key tools of mediating communication and asserting power, and still are. But the rise of a new culture, the culture of autonomy, has found in Internet and mobile communication networks a major medium of mass self-communication and self-organization.

The key source for the social production of meaning is the process of socialized communication. I define communication as the process of sharing meaning through the exchange of information. Socialized communication is the one that exists in the public realm, that has the potential of reaching society at large. Therefore, the battle over the human mind is largely played out in the process of socialized communication. And this is particularly so in the network society, the social structure of the Information Age, which is characterized by the pervasiveness of communication networks in a multimodal hypertext.

The ongoing transformation of communication technology in the digital age extends the reach of communication media to all domains of social life in a network that is at the same time global and local, generic and customized, in an ever-changing pattern.

As a result, power relations, that is the relations that constitute the foundation of all societies, as well as the processes challenging institutionalized power relations, are increasingly shaped and decided in the communication field. Meaningful, conscious communication is what makes humans human. Thus, any major transformation in the technology and organization of communication is of utmost relevance for social change. Over the last four decades the advent of the Internet and of wireless communication has shifted the communication process in society at large from mass communication to mass self-communication. This is from a message sent from one to many with little interactivity to a system based on messages from many to many, multimodal, in chosen time, and with interactivity, so that senders are receivers and receivers are senders. And both have access to a multimodal hypertext in the web that constitutes the endlessly changing backbone of communication processes.

The transformation of communication from mass communication to mass self-communication has contributed decisively to alter the process of social change. As power relationships have always been based on the control of communication and information that feed the neural networks constitutive of the human mind, the rise of horizontal networks of communication has created a new landscape of social and political change by the process of disintermediation of the government and corporate controls over communication. This is the power of the network, as social actors build their own networks on the basis of their projects, values, and interests. The outcome of these processes is open ended and dependent on specific contexts. Freedom, in this case freedom of communicate, does not say anything on the uses of freedom in society. This is to be established by scholarly research. But we need to start from this major historical phenomenon: the building of a global communication network based on the Internet, a technology that embodies the culture of freedom that was at its source.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century there have been multiple social movements around the world that have used the Internet as their space of formation and permanent connectivity, among the movements and with society at large. These networked social movements, formed in the social networking sites on the Internet, have mobilized in the urban space and in the institutional space, inducing new forms of social movements that are the main actors of social change in the network society. Networked social movements have been particularly active since 2010, and especially in the Arab revolutions against dictatorships; in Europe and the U.S. as forms of protest against the management of the financial crisis; in Brazil; in Turkey; in Mexico; and in highly diverse institutional contexts and economic conditions. It is precisely the similarity of the movements in extremely different contexts that allows the formulation of the hypothesis that this is the pattern of social movements characteristic of the global network society. In all cases we observe the capacity of these movements for self-organization, without a central leadership, on the basis of a spontaneous emotional movement. In all cases there is a connection between Internet-based communication, mobile networks, and the mass media in different forms, feeding into each other and amplifying the movement locally and globally.

These movements take place in the context of exploitation and oppression, social tensions and social struggles; but struggles that were not able to successfully challenge the state in other instances of revolt are now powered by the tools of mass self-communication. It is not the technology that induces the movements, but without the technology (Internet and wireless communication) social movements would not take the present form of being a challenge to state power. The fact is that technology is material culture (ideas brought into the design) and the Internet materialized the culture of freedom that, as it has been documented, emerged on American campuses in the 1960s. This culture-made technology is at the source of the new wave of social movements that exemplify the depth of the global impact of the Internet in all spheres of social organization, affecting particularly power relationships, the foundation of the institutions of society. (See case studies and an analytical perspective on the interaction between Internet and networked social movements in Castells 2012.)

The Internet, as all technologies, does not produce effects by itself. Yet, it has specific effects in altering the capacity of the communication system to be organized around flows that are interactive, multimodal, asynchronous or synchronous, global or local, and from many to many, from people to people, from people to objects, and from objects to objects, increasingly relying on the semantic web. How these characteristics affect specific systems of social relationships has to be established by research, and this is what I tried to present in this text. What is clear is that without the Internet we would not have seen the large-scale development of networking as the fundamental mechanism of social structuring and social change in every domain of social life. The Internet, the World Wide Web, and a variety of networks increasingly based on wireless platforms constitute the technological infrastructure of the network society, as the electrical grid and the electrical engine were the support system for the form of social organization that we conceptualized as the industrial society. Thus, as a social construction, this technological system is open ended, as the network society is an open-ended form of social organization that conveys the best and the worse in humankind. Yet, the global network society is our society, and the understanding of its logic on the basis of the interaction between culture, organization, and technology in the formation and development of social and technological networks is a key field of research in the twenty-first century.

We can only make progress in our understanding through the cumulative effort of scholarly research. Only then we will be able to cut through the myths surrounding the key technology of our time. A digital communication technology that is already a second skin for young people, yet it continues to feed the fears and the fantasies of those who are still in charge of a society that they barely understand.

These references are in fact sources of more detailed references specific to each one of the topics analyzed in this text.

Abbate, Janet. A Social History of the Internet. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.

Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13, no. 1 (2007).

Cardoso, Gustavo, Angus Cheong, and Jeffrey Cole (eds). World Wide Internet: Changing Societies, Economies and Cultures. Macau: University of Macau Press, 2009.

Castells, Manuel. The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. 3 vols. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996–2003.

———. The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

———. Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

———. Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2012.

Castells, Manuel, Imma Tubella, Teresa Sancho, and Meritxell Roca.

La transición a la sociedad red. Barcelona: Ariel, 2007.

Hilbert, Martin, and Priscilla López. “The World’s Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information.” Science 332, no. 6025 (April 1, 2011): pp. 60–65.

Papacharissi, Zizi, ed. The Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Networking Sites. Routledge, 2010.

Rainie. Lee, and Barry Wellman. Networked: The New Social Operating System. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012.

Trajectory Partnership (Michael Willmott and Paul Flatters). The Information Dividend: Why IT Makes You “Happier.” Swindon: British Informatics Society Limited, 2010. http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/info-dividend-full-report.pdf

Selected Web References.   Used as sources for analysis in the chapter

Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento. “Observatório de Sociedade da Informação e do Conhecimento (OSIC).” http://www.umic.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3026&Itemid=167

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. “Features, Press and Policy.” http://www.bcs.org/category/7307

Center for the Digital Future. The World Internet Project International Report. 4th ed. Los Angeles: USC Annenberg School, Center for the Digital Future, 2012. http://www.worldinternetproject.net/_files/_Published/_oldis/770_2012wip_report4th_ed.pdf

ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council). “Papers and Reports.” Virtual Society. http://virtualsociety.sbs.ox.ac.uk/reports.htm

Fundación Orange. “Análisis y Prospectiva: Informe eEspaña.” Fundación Orange. http://fundacionorange.es/fundacionorange/analisisprospectiva.html

Fundación Telefónica. “Informes SI.” Fundación Telefónica. http://sociedadinformacion.fundacion.telefonica.com/DYC/SHI/InformesSI/seccion=1190&idioma=es_ES.do

IN3 (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute). UOC. “Project Internet Catalonia (PIC): An Overview.” Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, 2002–07. http://www.uoc.edu/in3/pic/eng/

International Telecommunication Union. “Annual Reports.” http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/sfo/annual_reports/index.html

Nielsen Company. “Reports.” 2013. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2013.html?tag=Category:Media+ and+Entertainment

Oxford Internet Surveys. “Publications.” http://microsites.oii.ox.ac.uk/oxis/publications

Pew Internet & American Life Project. “Social Networking.” Pew Internet. http://www.pewinternet.org/Topics/Activities-and-Pursuits/Social-Networking.aspx?typeFilter=5

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The Internet, Politics and the Politics of Internet Debate

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Essay, Speech(Pros & Cons)

Advantages and disadvantages of internet essay, speech, article, composition.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Essay, Speech, Article : Internet is basic need of young generation today; youth can survive without food but can’t survive without internet.it is strong addiction of youth which is good as well as bad. Initially internet was not so popular but after growth in mobile technology internet has become basic need of people around world. Internet is a most thing which is used now days. Internet has increased communication very fast.

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Pros and Cons of Internet

Advantages of using internet {merits of using internet}.

Internet is advantageous if boys and girls will use it in good purpose. Acquiring information using internet has become very easy. People get everything from internet. Online shopping, online chatting, online banking etc. Everything can be gained using internet anywhere at any time. Distance education is the major advantage of internet, using internet education can be taught at rural areas where there are no teachers available. Students in village can learn through internet they give online exam. Everything has become online today even there is no need to go outside for food; using internet we can order food as well.so there are many pros of Internet.

Read Also :  Pros and Cons Of Computers

The first and the foremost advantages of the internet is that it has brought an era of knowledge where accessing knowledge has become very easy. Any topic, any issue from anything to everything is available on the internet. Accessing knowledge is now no more limited to a few. It is equally available to all at all times.Internet has shortened the distances. Emails, Video Calls and social media are just few examples of advantages of Internet is : how communication has moved beyond the traditional system of voice calls and letters. Internet has brought people closer and has brought the whole world on a single platform to communicate and express them.

Advantages of Internet

Internet has given rise to new sector of businesses which has arisen because of the Internet. Alibaba, Flipkart, Amazon are the few examples of businesses are the result of benefits of internet . There are plethora of other successful examples of entrepreneurial ventures that strive pros of internet and its power.The traditional systems are now getting more easy and transparent. All work is now being done online be it banking or filing of e-Returns. This has made all these systems more credible and transparent.

The internet has thus made the global world more connected and well connected and has brought parity by providing equal access to knowledge to everyone. Internet is a powerful tool and has definitely marked a new era.

Read Also :  Effects of Video Games

The internet has led to a revolution. The world history can be now looked into two era-one before the internet and one after the internet. The second one is a compact world which has surpassed the geographical boundaries and has brought the entire world on the fingertips of the people.

Disadvantages of Using Internet {Demerits of Using Internet}

Every coin has two side and same as internet too. As There are some Disadvantages of Internet also for who use it bad purpose. Hacking, shipping, fishing, intruding, cyber-crime is taking place just because of cons of internet . Even college students who use it for bad purpose face difficulty and get fished into some fishy tricks. Security is main aspect in internet if people are doing transaction of lakhs and if someone hacks its account them it can be disadvantages of Internet .so security and usability are prime concern of internet.

Conclusion on Advantages & Disadvantages of Internet Debate

So if the thing is available for two purposes then we should always look for the positive one. If we use it positively we can increase our knowledge and earn money too. Information can be easily retrieved using it. Internet is boon for those who use it for positive purpose and curse for whom who use it for negative purpose.

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What does freedom of speech mean in the internet era?

a speech on advantages of internet

More than two-thirds of the world is using the internet, a lot. Image:  REUTERS/Fred Prouser

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  • The US Supreme Court is weighing in on whether social media sites can be compelled to include all viewpoints no matter how objectionable.
  • The high court’s decision could have a broad impact on how the internet is experienced.
  • Its deliberations raise questions about regulation, freedom of speech and what makes for a healthy and equitable online existence.

In 1996, a man in South Africa locked himself into a glass cubicle and mostly limited his contact with the outside world to an internet connection for a few months . “The exciting aspect is realizing just how similar we all are in this growing global village,” he gushed to a reporter on the verge of his release.

What was an oddball stunt 28 years ago now verges on a rough description of daily existence. When Richard Weideman locked himself into that cubicle to stare at a screen all day, only about 1% of the global population was online, and social media was mostly limited to the 5,000 or so members of the WELL, an early virtual community. Now, more than two-thirds of the world is using the internet, a lot – and the global village is not in great shape .

The US Supreme Court is currently attempting to sort out exactly how internet discourse should be experienced. Are YouTube, Facebook and TikTok places where top-down decisions should continue to be made on what to publish and what to exclude? Or, are they more akin to a postal service that’s obliged to convey all views, no matter how unseemly?

By weighing in on two state laws mandating that kind of forced inclusion, the high court could end up ensuring free expression by erasing editorial guardrails – and the average scroll through social media might never be quite the same. A decision is expected by June .

This potential inflection point comes as just about everyone and their grandparents are now very online. Not participating doesn’t seem like an option anymore. “The modern public square” is one way to describe it. Oral arguments before the Supreme Court have surfaced other analogies , like a book shop, or a parade.

Excluding people from marching in your parade might seem unfair. But, it's your parade.

As more people get online, the desire to govern discourse has increased.

More than a century ago, a Supreme Court justice made his own analogy : speech that doesn’t merit protection is the type that creates a clear and present danger, like falsely shouting “fire” in a crowded theater.

“Shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater” has since become a shopworn way to describe anything deemed to cross the free-speech line.

As it turns out, falsely shouting “fire” in crowded places had actually been a real thing that people did in the years before it showed up in a Supreme Court opinion. In 1911, at an opera house in the state of Pennsylvania, it resulted in dozens of people people being fatally crushed; another incident two years later in Michigan killed far more.

More recently, social media services banned certain political messaging because they believed it had also fatally incited people under false pretenses.

Those bans prompted reactive laws in Florida and Texas, triggering the current Supreme Court proceeding. The Texas legislation prohibits social media companies with big audiences from barring users over their viewpoints. The broader Florida law also forbids such deplatforming, and zeroes in on the practice of shadow banning .

That particular form of surreptitious censoring isn’t confined to the US, even if many popular social media services are headquartered there. The EU’s Digital Services Act, approved in 2022, is meant to prohibit shadow banning. In India, users trying to broach touchy subjects online have alleged that it’s happened. And in Mexico, some critics have actually advocated for more shadow banning of criminal cartels.

‘A euphemism for censorship’

In 1969, computer scientists in California established the first network connection via the precursor to the modern internet. They managed to send the initial two letters of a five-letter message from a refrigerator-sized machine at the University of California, Los Angeles, before the system crashed. Things progressed quickly from there.

In 2006, Google blew a lot of minds by paying nearly $1.7 billion for YouTube – an astounding price for something widely considered a repository for pirated content and cat videos.

By 2019, YouTube was earning a bit more than $15 billion in ad revenue annually, and had a monthly global audience of 2 billion users. It’s now at the crux of a debate with far-reaching implications; if the Florida and Texas laws are upheld by the Supreme Court, the site would likely have a much harder time barring hateful content, if it could at all.

That might be just fine for some people. One Supreme Court justice wondered during oral arguments whether the content moderation currently employed by YouTube and others is just “a euphemism for censorship.”

In some ways, we’ve already had at least a partial test run of unleashing a broader range of views on a social media channel. When it was still called Twitter, the site banned political ads due to concerns about spreading misinformation, and even banned a former US president. Now, as “X,” it’s reinstated both .

According to one recent analysis , X’s political center of gravity shifted notably after coming under new ownership in late 2022, mostly by design . The response has been mixed; sharp declines in downloads of the app and usage have been reported.

Richard Weideman, self-made captive of the internet circa 1996.

Government intervention to force that kind of recalibration, or to mandate any kind of content moderation decisions, would likely be unpopular. X, for example, has challenged a law passed in California in 2022 requiring social media companies to self-report the moderation decisions they’re making. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called that law an informal censorship scheme .

Pundits seem skeptical that the Supreme Court will let the state laws requiring blanket viewpoint inclusion stand. During oral arguments, the court’s chief justice asked whether the government should really be forcing a "modern public square" run by private companies to publish anything. An attorney suggested the result might be so disruptive that, at least until they can figure out how to best proceed, some sites might consider narrowing their focus to “nothing but content about puppies.”

Workarounds are already available to some people who feel overlooked online. Starting an entirely new social media site of their own, for example . Or, if they happen to be among the richest people in the world, maybe buying one that’s already gained a huge audience.

Neither option is very realistic for most of us. And there may be a legitimate case to be made that ubiquitous platforms do sometimes unfairly marginalize certain voices.

(It's also possible that “content about puppies” would be preferable to what’s often available now).

Ultimately, no sweeping legal remedy may be at hand. Instead, we'll likely remain in an uneasy middle ground that only becomes more bewildering as artificial intelligence spreads – mostly relying on algorithm-induced familiarity , maybe wondering if it’s social-media ineptitude or shadow banning that’s keeping us from getting the attention we deserve, and not infrequently stepping out of our online comfort zone to steal a glimpse of something jarring.

More reading on freedom of expression online

For more context, here are links to further reading from the World Economic Forum's Strategic Intelligence platform :

  • “The US Supreme Court Holds the Future of the Internet in its Hands.” The headline says it all. ( Wired )
  • This pole dancer won an apology from Instagram for blocking hashtags she and her peers had been using “in error,” then proceeded to publish an academic study on shadow banning. ( The Conversation )
  • “Social media paints an alarmingly detailed picture.” Sometimes people don’t want to be seen and heard online, particularly if asked for their social media identifiers when applying for a visa, according to this piece. ( EFF )
  • “From Hashtags to Hush-Tags.” The removal of victims’ online content in conflict zones plays in favor of regimes committing atrocities, according to this analysis. ( The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy )
  • Have you heard the conspiracy theory about a “deep state” plot involving a pop megastar dating a professional American football player? According to an expert cited in this piece, it’s just more evidence of our current era of “evidence maximalism.” ( The Atlantic )
  • Everyone seems pretty certain that internet discourse has negatively affected behavior, politics, and society – but according to this piece, truly rigorous studies of these effects (and responsible media coverage of those studies) are rarer than you might think. ( LSE )
  • One thing social media services don’t appear to have issues with publishing: recruitment campaigns for intelligence agencies, according to this piece. ( RUSI )

On the Strategic Intelligence platform, you can find feeds of expert analysis related to Media , Law , Digital Communications , and hundreds of additional topics. You’ll need to register to view.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet

Pre-Requisite: Introduction to Internet

The Internet is the most popular and innovative creation within the world of technology is the Internet. The web is the place where all types of data are present and even the communication process is feasible using the web. The planet has now become internet-dependent due to its vast advantages. There may be a check both its advantages and drawbacks.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the web as an outsized system of connected computers around the world that permits people to share information and communicate with one another. The web is run and governed by various companies, businesses, governments, and academic institutions for his or her purpose. It carries a number of data about almost every subject and has very quickly become an important part of everyone’s lives. Over 4.5 billion people everywhere on the planet are internet users currently. Now let us look at the advantages and the disadvantages of the Internet.

Internet

Advantages of the Internet

The internet is perhaps one of the best inventions thus far. As anyone can access the computer this made people by stripping away geographical barriers and sharing information instantaneously.

  • Communication Forum: The speed of communication becomes faster which is obtained through the web. Families and friends can use the internet easily. The platform for products like SKYPE, ZOOM, Teams, etc. allows for holding a video conference with anyone in the world who also has access. It helps in connecting two people present anywhere very easily. 
  • Abundant Information: Anyone can find information on almost any imaginable subject. Plenty of resources are often found through the program in minutes. The Internet helps in providing information on all topics.
  • Inexhaustible Education: For instance, students can gain readily available help for their homework online. Not only homework but there are also so many platforms that provide online education that helps students to gain knowledge in various domains. It helps in increasing the knowledge of the learner.
  • Entertainment for Everybody: Most folks love using our laptops, smartphones, and, tablets. The web is the big reason behind us spending such a lot of time on these gadgets. With the ease of the Internet, the entertainment industry has also scaled and it helps in expanding in many ways like OTT platforms and many other platforms, etc.
  • Online Services and E-commerce: Many services of email, online banking, online shopping, etc are there. Free mail to anyone is definitely accessible all around the world. E-commerce enables one in America to shop for things in Asia, Africa, or other areas of the world through some simple clicks of the mouse.
  • Social Network: Social networking is the sharing of data with people across the planet. Aside from being an entertainment website, it’s many uses. The Internet has given a massive gain in these social networking sites as it connects people who are far away in just a few seconds. 
  • Learning: The web has now become a neighborhood of education. Education like homeschooling is definitely administered using the web. Teachers can upload their teaching videos on the web and nowadays many more platforms have come to teach students because of the accessibility of the Internet.
  • Internet Banking: Internet Banking is one of the main advantages of the Internet as it helps people nowadays in using banks in a digital way which helps in people not going to banks, not standing in queues in banks, etc. People can use banking services at their fingertips with the help of the Internet .

Disadvantages of the Internet

The Internet’s drawbacks can’t be overlooked any longer as numerous teenagers are affected by Internet Addiction Disorder, then many ladies became online shopaholics.

  • Internet Addiction Disorder: Internet addiction is detrimental to not only fitness but also psychological state. Many people suffer from this problem as they are addicted to the Internet and use their devices without thinking about the time they wasted on the device.
  • Cyber Crime: Cyber Crime can lead by Hacker programs a virus that gets into the pc and ruins valuable data. Users’ personal information like name, address, master card, bank details, and other information are often accessed by culprits when used on the web, leading to significant economic loss.
  • Social Alienation: Time spent online flies fast without consciousness. After getting attracted the user is trapped into the trap, users are trapped by a “net”, spending less time with people in the real world. Less interaction and face-to-face communication, actually, may end in a decrease in social abilities.
  • Spam: Unnecessary emails, advertisements, etc. are sometimes said to be spam because they need the power to hamper the system and make the users face many problems. Heavy use of the Internet leads to so many issues like bank account fraud, internet fraud, etc.
  • Health issues: Playing games and spending too much time on monitors leads to obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle. It also impacts the eyesight of the person using the device for a long time. It has very serious health issues.
  • Wastage of Time: The Internet is one of the ways which can lead to the wastage of your time. It happens to almost all of us nowadays, as we start surfing and we continuously start surfing and do not realize how much time wasted. This results in increasing screen time, and this leads to loss of memory power.
  • Virus/Malware: Use of the Internet can lead to the invitation of viruses to the system and make the system unproductive, it is one of the big disadvantages of using the Internet as your system can hang because of viruses.
  • Affect Focus and Patience: The Internet can lead to affects individual focus and patience which can lead to distract someone from achieving his/her goals in life and this is one of the disadvantages of the Internet.

The Internet can be an advantage and can also be a disadvantage to anyone. It totally depends on the person and how he/she uses it. If the user uses it for growing their knowledge or learning or some meaningful work, it is an advantage for him/her, but if the user uses it for something unproductive, uses it for threatening, or hacking somebody, it works as a disadvantage for the Internet. Its proper use can improve somebody’s life and its improper use can be a disaster to someone. Overall, it totally depends on the person and how he/she uses it.

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English Summary

1 Minute Speech on Internet in English

Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends, a wonderful morning to all of you. Today on this special occasion, I would like to speak some words on the topic- Internet.

One of the most ground breaking developments of modern technology is the internet. It connects the entire world together, transforming the planet into a global village. The internet allows us to access unlimited knowledge, and connects us to people all over the globe. With the advent of mobile phones and social media, the internet has invaded every part of our lives. As a result, it is often rightly said that we live in the age of the internet.

However, the internet has a dark side too. Cybercrimes and cyber bullying are on the rise, and excessive use of the internet has also led to depression and anxiety in many individuals.

To conclude, we must take advantage of the benefits of the internet, but we should remember to be cautious about it too! Thank you for listening to me so attentively.

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  • J Med Internet Res
  • v.14(4); Jul-Aug 2012

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Speech Perception Benefits of Internet Versus Conventional Telephony for Hearing-Impaired Individuals

Georgios mantokoudis.

1 Cochlear Implant Division, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Patrick Dubach

Flurin pfiffner, martin kompis, marco caversaccio, pascal senn.

Telephone communication is a challenge for many hearing-impaired individuals. One important technical reason for this difficulty is the restricted frequency range (0.3–3.4 kHz) of conventional landline telephones. Internet telephony (voice over Internet protocol [VoIP]) is transmitted with a larger frequency range (0.1–8 kHz) and therefore includes more frequencies relevant to speech perception. According to a recently published, laboratory-based study, the theoretical advantage of ideal VoIP conditions over conventional telephone quality has translated into improved speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals. However, the speech perception benefits of nonideal VoIP network conditions, which may occur in daily life, have not been explored. VoIP use cannot be recommended to hearing-impaired individuals before its potential under more realistic conditions has been examined.

To compare realistic VoIP network conditions, under which digital data packets may be lost, with ideal conventional telephone quality with respect to their impact on speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals.

We assessed speech perception using standardized test material presented under simulated VoIP conditions with increasing digital data packet loss (from 0% to 20%) and compared with simulated ideal conventional telephone quality. We monaurally tested 10 adult users of cochlear implants, 10 adult users of hearing aids, and 10 normal-hearing adults in the free sound field, both in quiet and with background noise.

Across all participant groups, mean speech perception scores using VoIP with 0%, 5%, and 10% packet loss were 15.2% (range 0%–53%), 10.6% (4%–46%), and 8.8% (7%–33%) higher, respectively, than with ideal conventional telephone quality. Speech perception did not differ between VoIP with 20% packet loss and conventional telephone quality. The maximum benefits were observed under ideal VoIP conditions without packet loss and were 36% ( P = .001) for cochlear implant users, 18% ( P = .002) for hearing aid users, and 53% ( P = .001) for normal-hearing adults. With a packet loss of 10%, the maximum benefits were 30% ( P = .002) for cochlear implant users, 6% ( P = .38) for hearing aid users, and 33% ( P = .002) for normal-hearing adults.

Conclusions

VoIP offers a speech perception benefit over conventional telephone quality, even when mild or moderate packet loss scenarios are created in the laboratory. VoIP, therefore, has the potential to significantly improve telecommunication abilities for the large community of hearing-impaired individuals.

Introduction

Engaging in telephone conversations is a challenge for many hearing-impaired individuals, including hearing aid and cochlear implant users [ 1 - 4 ]. Reduced social connectivity likely mediates the well-known associations between hearing loss and depression, cognitive decline, reduced quality of life, and increased morbidity and mortality [ 5 - 8 ]. Any improvement in telecommunication would therefore be of great importance and may affect millions of people, as hearing loss is a common disease in modern societies: it affects 1 to 4 of every 1000 people born [ 9 ], approximately 16% of adults aged 20 to 69 years [ 10 ], and more than 80% of older adults aged 80 to 92 years [ 11 ].

The two main technical limitations of conventional telephones for hearing-impaired individuals are, first, the frequency restriction and second, the digital data compression used in conventional telephony to maximize the network infrastructure utilization.

In addition, issues related to coupling the telephone to a hearing aid or a cochlear implant may further reduce speech perception by the hearing-impaired end user, even when assistive telephone listening devices are used [ 12 - 14 ]. Finally, hearing-impaired individuals face additional intelligibility problems when the caller or receiver is surrounded by environmental noise.

From a theoretical perspective, Internet telephony (voice over Internet protocol [VoIP]) should offer improved speech perception to the end user, as the transmitted frequency range is double that of conventional telephones (0.1–8 kHz vs 0.3–3.4 kHz). The association between improved speech perception and the presentation of speech at higher bandwidths has been repeatedly shown in the literature [ 15 - 17 ]. Additionally, modernized versions of signal processing strategies for coding and decoding speech, so-called codecs, have recently been implemented into VoIP software with the aim of improving intelligibility, particularly under adverse network conditions.

These technical advantages of Internet telephony translate into improved speech perception by hearing-impaired and normal-hearing adults, at least when simulated under ideal laboratory conditions [ 18 ]. However, ideal network conditions are not constantly present in the World Wide Web, especially when Internet lines are overloaded [ 19 ]. Under adverse conditions, digital data packets may be delayed or lost. Lost data packets are usually described as a percentage of the original number of data packets sent through the network [ 20 ]. Despite software solutions designed to recover lost data packets (known as packet loss concealment; Figure 1 ), sound quality and speech perception may be negatively affected. For hearing-impaired individuals, even small differences in audio quality may have an important impact on speech perception. However, to date, no reports have addressed the relationship between packet loss in Internet telephony and speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals. To fill this gap, we assessed speech perception using standardized speech test material presented at a variety of simulated adverse VoIP qualities and compared it with speech perception under ideal conventional telephony conditions.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is jmir_v14i4e102_fig1.jpg

Each data packet originating in a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)-sending device (not shown) takes a different route through the Internet (TCP/IP network) before arriving at the receiver. Data packets may be delayed or lost on the way. The VoIP software includes two solutions to improve audio quality in these cases: the jitter buffer collects the maximum number of data packets by waiting as long as needed and keeping the time delay to a minimum; and packet loss concealment (PLC) aims to reconstruct lost data packets. Finally, digital data packets are decoded and delivered to a VoIP-compatible user interface, such as a VoIP handheld telephone, a headset, or external loudspeakers.

We conducted all tests between January and June 2009 at the University Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland. The study protocol was approved by the local institutional review board. All patients gave written informed consent.

Test Participants

Participants in the study were 20 hearing-impaired adults, consisting of 10 users of cochlear implants and 10 users of hearing aids, and 10 normal-hearing adults. All test participants were at least 18 years old and were selected from the institution’s clinical database. Mean age was 46 years in the cochlear implant group, 68 years in the hearing-impaired group, and 35 years in the normal-hearing group. A total of 90% of participants who were tested in our previous experimental study [ 18 ] consented to participate in the present study and came to the laboratory for a second series of independent experiments. The same inclusion criteria used in the former study were applied; these were based on pure-tone audiograms, speech audiometry performance (the German Freiburger monosyllable test), and technical device specifications. Eligible cochlear implant users had processors that allowed stimulation beyond 5 kHz and aided minimum monosyllabic word discrimination scores of 50% or more at a 60-dB sound pressure level ( Table 1 ). Eligible hearing aid users had moderate bilateral hearing loss with unaided sloping pure-tone audiometry thresholds, aided pure-tone audiometry with hearing gains beyond 3.4 kHz, and aided minimum monosyllabic word discrimination scores of 15% and 70% at sound pressure levels of 60 and 75 dB, respectively. Table 1 shows the aided speech discrimination scores for each individual and Figure 2 shows the aided hearing thresholds in free field, which reflects the degree of compensation for their hearing impairments and their ability to hear the telephone speech signal. The pure-tone audiometry thresholds and monosyllabic word discrimination scores of the normal-hearing control participants were within normal limits (100%).

Clinical data for cochlear implant users and hearing aid users.

b Not applicable.

d Sudden hearing loss.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is jmir_v14i4e102_fig2.jpg

Lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and 1.5*interquartile range (X = outliers) of aided hearing thresholds in the free sound field for cochlear implant (CI) and hearing aid (HA) users. The analog telephone (public switched telephone network [PSTN]) speech signals are shown in dB hearing level as dotted lines. VoIP = voice over Internet protocol.

Speech Perception Test Protocol

All tests were performed in the free sound field in a sound-treated room. The speech test material was played on an audio compact disc (CD) player connected to an audiometer (GSI 61; Grason-Stadler, Milford, NH, USA) and was reproduced using a pair of loudspeakers (Type 1030 A; Genelec Oy, Iisalmi, Finland) situated 1 m from the front of the patient’s head.

All tests were conducted monaurally. The most suitable ear was selected based on the inclusion criteria; if both ears were equally suitable, the ear commonly used for telephony was used. The opposite ear canal was occluded with an earplug (E.A.R. Classic, Aearo Technologies, Stockport, UK). The specified average attenuation of these earplugs is 24.6–41.6 dB in the 250- to 4000-Hz range. Bilateral cochlear implant users had to switch off one of their devices to produce homogeneous and comparable data. Monaural testing was necessary because not all individuals had the same degree of hearing loss on both sides, and speech perception performance varied between the first and second listening device. In addition, monaural testing more realistically reflects the use of a conventional telephone handset.

We used the standardized German Hochmair-Schulz-Moser (HSM) Sentence Test [ 21 ] in quiet and competing noise to test speech perception. This test consists of 30 lists with 20 sentences and 106 words per list to avoid learning effects. The sentences were presented in 4 different VoIP qualities (with 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% packet loss) and ideal conventional telephone quality ( Table 2 ) in quiet and with competing noise with 4 different signal to noise ratios (SNRs): 15, 10, 5, and 0 dB. We set the defined broadband noise signal to a constant level of 70 dB sound pressure level and changed the speech signal according to the SNR required by the standardized test protocol (range 70–85 dB sound pressure level). The audibility of the speech signal in relation to the aided hearing threshold is shown in Figure 2 for VoIP and analog telephone signals. Participants had to orally repeat the presented sentences, and the percentage of correctly understood words was assessed and used for comparison across conditions. A random permutation of all individuals was performed in conjunction with test order randomization to avoid order effects and selection bias. The participants were unaware of which condition was being tested at any time of the assessment.

Frequency and filter characteristics for each audio quality

a Frequency at the edge of the pass band.

b Frequency at the beginning of the stop band.

c Amount of ripple allowed in the pass-band (also called Apass).

d Stop-band attenuation.

e Public switched telephone network.

f Pulse code modulation.

Digital Generation of VoIP Audio Signals

The original audio CD files of the HSM Sentence Test were converted into a wave-format audio file using the Switch Audio File Converter software, version 1.05 (NCH Software Pty Ltd, Canberra, ACT, Australia). The speech and noise channels were mixed to mono wave files with a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz, thereby allowing identical signal processing for speech and noise. Before encoding, the audio files were low-pass filtered using MATLAB software, version 7.9.0.529 (The MathWorks, Inc, Natick, MA, USA).

The audio files were then converted again into raw files using Switch Audio File Converter software. To generate a VoIP simulation with different extents of packet loss, the raw data were encoded using simulation software (a voice engine demonstration application) in conjunction with a modern iPCMwb codec (0.1–8 kHz; Global IP Solutions, San Francisco, CA, USA). Table 2 shows the filter parameters. The public switched telephone network (PSTN) transmission has an upper limit of 3.4 kHz. In contrast to this, the frequency transmission of VoIP extends to 8 kHz, thereby preserving the high-frequency content of speech.

We simulated 4 different scenarios: 1 scenario without packet loss and 3 scenarios with packet losses of 5%, 10%, and 20%. In Table 3 , the parameter p represents the probability of packet loss. The average loss length defines the number of lost packets. The parameter BurstR is a measure of packet loss “burstiness,” as defined by Raake [ 22 ]. BurstR = 1.0 indicates that there was no correlation across packet losses, which were all independent and identically distributed with probability p (obtained by omitting the loss length parameter from the command line). BurstR >1.0 means that the packet losses tended to come in bursts; the larger the BurstR, the longer the bursts of losses. The variable BurstR is dimensionless. The parameter q is simply a translation of loss length into the transition probability from a lost to a found state of the underlying Markov model: q = 1 / loss length [ 23 , 24 ]. Finally, the encoded data sizes for a frame, the frame length or payload, are indicated in bytes.

Parameters of the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) simulations.

Digital Generation of PSTN Audio Signals

To simulate conventional telephone audio quality, we implemented a PSTN G.711 A-Law codec, which is a standard in PSTNs, in the Switch Audio File Converter software . We coded the files at a sampling rate of 8 kHz. Before encoding, we used MATLAB software to limit the upper frequency range of the original wave files to 4 kHz.

All 5 audio CDs (4 VoIP simulations and 1 PSTN quality simulation) were reproduced using an active loudspeaker system (Genelec Type 1030 A). They were calibrated in the free sound field using a Type 2636 measuring amplifier and a Type 4133 FF measuring microphone connected to a Type 2619 preamplifier (all from Brüel & Kjær Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S, Nærum, Denmark). We used a Pistonphone Brüel & Kjær 4288 precision calibrator to calibrate the measurement arrangement. The final measurements showed no difference in the sound pressure levels of speech signals across different audio signals.

Statistical Analysis

W used a 2-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test to compare the scores obtained under different VoIP versus telephone quality simulations. For the condition with no packet loss (condition 0, Table 3 ), a 1-tailed test was applied because of the expected superiority of VoIP under this condition [ 18 , 25 ]. P < .05 was considered significant. When applying a Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, P Bonf £ .0125 was considered significant.

Across all test groups, speech perception scores assessed with different VoIP qualities versus conventional telephone quality were higher in 39 out of 60 test conditions ( Figure 3 and Table 4 ). The average advantage of VoIP in the 39 conditions was 14.6% (range 1%–53%), and the differences were statistically significant in 23 conditions ( P < .05). Mean speech perception scores were 15.2% (range 0%–53%) higher in the sentence test using VoIP with no packet loss, 10.6% (4%–46%) with mild packet loss, and 8.8% (7%–33%) with medium packet loss across the 3 groups ( Table 4 ). Scores obtained under VoIP conditions with severe packet loss were similar to those obtained with conventional telephone quality.

Mean differences in speech perception scores (D%) assessed with different voice over Internet protocol qualities (degree of packet loss) versus conventional telephone quality using the Hochmair-Schulz-Moser (HSM) Sentence Test.

a Signal to noise ratio.

b Cochlear implant.

c Not applicable.

d Statistically significant with Bonferroni correction.

e Statistically significant without Bonferroni correction.

f Hearing aid.

g Normal-hearing adults.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is jmir_v14i4e102_fig3.jpg

Speech perception scores assessed with the HSM Sentence Test are plotted against different signal to noise ratios (SNRs) for cochlear implant users (A), hearing aid users (C), and normal-hearing adults (E) for 4 different VoIP qualities (0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% packet loss) and 1 ideal conventional telephone quality. The impact of different network conditions with increasing data packet loss (x-axis) on word discrimination scores is shown for different SNRs in B, D, and F. The black triangle indicates the speech perception level corresponding to a conventional telephone with a constant and stable transmission. VoIP = voice over Internet protocol.

Cochlear implant users showed improved speech perception using VoIP in 19 out of 20 test conditions ( Figure 3 , part A). On average, speech perception scores were 15.3% (range 1%–36%) higher with VoIP. The differences reached statistical significance in 13 conditions ( Table 4 ). In only 1 condition with severe packet loss did we find a disadvantage for VoIP versus conventional telephone quality; this 1% difference was not statistically significant.

Hearing aid users had improved speech perception scores with different VoIP qualities in half of the test conditions ( Figure 3 , part C). The mean advantage was 7.1% (range 2%–18%); this advantage was statistically significant in 3 test conditions with no packet loss ( Table 4 ). In 9 other test conditions with increased packet loss, speech perception scores were on average 6.2% (1%–17%) lower with VoIP. The negative differences were statistically significant under 4 conditions with severe packet loss ( Table 4 ).

Normal-hearing adults showed an average benefit of 20.8% (range 1%–53%) with different VoIP qualities under half of the conditions ( Figure 3 , part E). Under 7 conditions, the differences were statistically significant. Under 6 conditions with medium and severe packet loss, an average disadvantage of 2.2% (1%–6%) was found for VoIP; one of these conditions showed a statistically significant disadvantage ( Table 4 ).

When we experimentally increased VoIP packet loss from 0% to 10%, speech perception scores dropped only mildly ( Figure 3 , parts B, D, and F). When the packet loss increased to 20%, speech perception scores dropped more sharply. The scores achieved with VoIP qualities of 5% to 10% packet loss were typically still better than those obtained with simulations of ideal conventional telephone quality (represented by black triangles in Figure 3 , parts B, D, and F).

Key Findings

The present study confirmed that simulations of Internet versus conventional telephony quality are associated with improved speech perception by hearing-impaired and normal-hearing adults under perfect network conditions without packet loss or delay in the laboratory. The advantage for cochlear implant users and normal-hearing adults persists, even when the VoIP quality is reduced by 5% and 10% packet loss. Similarly, hearing aid users also scored higher with VoIP than with conventional telephony, but the differences did not reach statistical significance.

In general, speech perception scores assessed with VoIP quality remained good until a packet loss of 10%. Interestingly, VoIP simulation under severely adverse network conditions (with a packet loss of 20%) was not inferior to a perfect conventional telephone simulation in the majority of test conditions and for most of the tested participants.

Impact of Frequency Range, Coding Strategy, and SNR on Speech Perception

Our research group earlier showed the superiority of VoIP versus conventional telephony simulations under perfect network conditions [ 18 ]. The main reason for this advantage is the enlarged frequency range offered by VoIP (0.1–8 kHz vs 0.3–3.4 kHz). The association of improved speech perception with presentation of speech at higher bandwidths has been repeatedly shown [ 15 - 17 ].

Cochlear implant users had the lowest speech perception scores of all 3 tested groups in our study ( Figure 3 ), which is explainable because they have the highest degree of hearing loss. Interestingly, cochlear implant users reached the highest gain when tested with VoIP versus conventional telephony. The main reason for this is probably technical. Cochlear implant devices transmit a broad frequency range (on average 0.2–7.9 kHz, as verified prior to testing; Figure 2 ). Therefore, cochlear implant users can fully exploit the enlarged frequency range offered by VoIP. In contrast, most hearing aids used by our test participants do not transmit up to 8 kHz (on average 0.2–6.7 kHz according to the manufacturer’s specifications). Hearing aid users can therefore not exploit the full frequency range offered by VoIP. The enlarged frequency range is audible to hearing aid users with functional thresholds below 40 dB at 4 and 6 kHz, respectively ( Figure 2 ). They still benefit from the enlarged frequency range, but to a lesser extent.

The second reason for the advantage of VoIP is the conservation of high audio quality through digital signal processing using the chosen iPCMwb codec. In the first study by our group, speech perception scores that were assessed with VoIP quality were equal to scores obtained with frequency-restricted (0.1–8 kHz), uncompressed audio CD quality [ 18 ]. This means that through compression of digital data no relevant information for speech perception is lost. Additionally, modern VoIP codecs offer a constant full frequency range transmission even under adverse network conditions. The bit rate of the chosen iPCM-wb codec was variable (minimum at 36 kbit/s for silence and low levels) at an average rate of 80 kb/s and constant sampling rate of 16 kHz, which ensured a high-quality audio performance over heavily loaded packet networks.

Speech perception is more challenging with increasing competing noise, or decreasing SNRs. In particular, elderly hearing-impaired individuals with predominant high-frequency hearing loss suffer in noisy test conditions; in addition to complication from competing noise, the high-frequency content of speech is missing. VoIP may be helpful, because it transmits the high-frequency content of speech and because it offers the possibility of presenting the speech signal simultaneously to both ears through external loudspeakers, thereby allowing binaural hearing, which is a well-known advantage for speech perception in noise. Additionally, wired or wireless links enabling binaural hearing from 1 telephone signal are already available for hearing aids and cochlear implants.

Packet Loss

The measurement of packet loss under real VoIP transmission is a challenge for many VoIP companies because there is no constant data transmission over the Internet [ 26 ]. Packet loss of speech data may have a significant impact on speech audio quality [ 27 ]. The network transmission of voice data packets depends on the Internet infrastructure and transmission capacity, both of which may vary across companies and countries [ 28 ]. The transmission capacity may be reduced when Internet lines are overcharged. This situation can occur during rush hours, for example.

A decade ago, when VoIP telephony was not so highly developed, the average packet loss for a large number of measurement traces has been reported to be below 8% (p < 0.08 and q > 0.8) [ 24 ]. Since then, the Internet infrastructure, VoIP-compatible devices, and VoIP software solutions have been drastically improved. In 2004, one author already postulated that the packet loss should be held lower than 1% to ensure excellent VoIP transmission [ 29 ]. Nowadays, this request seems to be met, at least for most of the highly industrialized countries.

It can therefore be assumed that telecommunication using VoIP should substantially improve speech perception compared with conventional telephony under real network conditions, since the benefit of VoIP was measurable for most of the test participants up to an experimental packet loss of 10% in our study. A packet loss of more than 10% has a significant impact on sound quality with tone bursts, interruptions, extended time delay, and jitter of the audio signal. This is shown in Figure 3 , parts B, E, and H, with degradation of speech intelligibility beyond 10% packet loss.

The calculations and models of packet loss depend on the measuring method used [ 30 - 35 ]. However, passive or active real-time packet loss monitoring and measurements are still challenging for many researchers and network engineers.

To our knowledge, no other group has assessed the speech perception of hearing-impaired individuals using Internet telephony under adverse network conditions. The results of the present study therefore fill an important gap. Measuring packet loss under controlled laboratory conditions offers the opportunity to systematically address a highly variable phenomenon in the real network.

Jitter Buffer, Time Delay, and Packet Loss Concealment

Many technical parameters that may further influence speech perception by the end user have not been addressed in the present study. Every conversation can be disturbed when data packets arrive late to the receiver [ 28 ]. A jitter buffer is a part of the software solution for this problem. It collects all relevant voice data packets by waiting as long as needed and minimizing the time delay ( Figure 1 ). Packet losses can also be induced locally by setting a low playout delay in the jitter buffer. This may lead to bursts of packet loss and increased jitter, with further degradation of audio speech quality. Additionally, time delays and echo may affect speech perception; however, we did not test these factors. Nonetheless, experiences with VoIP and broadband access networks have shown only small packet delay variations with minimal delay and jitter [ 29 ]. Similarly, packet loss concealment algorithms ( Figure 1 ) in the VoIP software reconstruct speech information when data packets are lost [ 28 , 29 ]. Because speech perception may vary with the use of different packet loss concealment settings and codecs, we cannot generalize our results for all VoIP software available on the market. VoIP audio quality may further be influenced by wireless network conditions [ 34 ].

Practical Usefulness

Our test results may be important for hearing-impaired individuals, including hearing aid and cochlear implant users, because there is now strong experimental evidence for real improvement in speech perception when using VoIP instead of conventional telephones. The study is also important for physicians, audiologists, cochlear implant engineers, speech therapists, and other professionals who care for hearing-impaired individuals. Professionals should encourage hearing-impaired individuals to try VoIP, which is typically downloadable at no cost from most providers. Patients who already own a computer may be able to gain the benefits of VoIP at no cost. The use of external loudspeakers connected to the computer may further improve speech perception by permitting bilateral hearing and additional amplification through the volume control, which should be mentioned to the patients. Hearing aid and cochlear implant accessories, such as an FM transmitter and 3.5-mm audio jack, may also be helpful for coupling the computer directly to the hearing device. Patients should be advised that both sender and receiver should have a good microphone and loudspeaker system to take advantage of VoIP’s broadband advantage over conventional telephony.

Speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals and normal-hearing adults is improved when using perfect VoIP versus perfect conventional telephony transmission under controlled laboratory conditions. The superiority of VoIP persists even under experimental adverse network conditions, but not to the same extent and not for all tested individuals. Cochlear implant users seem to benefit more than hearing aid users because their devices are better suited to exploit VoIP’s broadband frequency range.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Christoph Schmid, engineer, for technical support and Aisha Spring for editing the figures. The authors would like to thank Global IP Solutions (GIPS, San Francisco, CA, USA) for providing their simulation software and the iPCMwb codec. We are very grateful to Michael Poppler and Tina le Grand, GIPS engineers, for their suggestions regarding the manuscript.

Financial support for this study was obtained from the foundation Stiftung für die Erforschung von Hör- und Sprachstörungen, Bern.

Abbreviations

None declared.

a speech on advantages of internet

Biden puts democracy at the heart of his State of the Union address

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the annual State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the Capital building on March 7, 2024 in Washington, DC.

President Biden laid out the case for his campaign for reelection this year, focusing principally on democracy and abortion rights . In response, Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama focused on immigration and painted a dark picture of the country, aligned with former President Donald Trump’s message.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • Biden’s performance: The president cleared a low bar , giving a forceful and political address that may have eased the nerves of some Democrats.
  • Immigration: Biden left the topic of immigration toward the end of his speech for a reason.
  • Trump’s reaction : The former president’s remarks on Truth Social ranged from the personal to the defensive.

Thanks for joining us

Now that Biden has headed back to the White House and the GOP response has ended, we're winding this down tonight.

Here's a full transcript of Biden's remarks — or watch his address:

Good night!

GOP Spanish-language rebuttal stays on the border

By Ximena Bustillo

Texas GOP Rep. Mónica De La Cruz gives a Spanish-language rebuttal to Biden's speech.

Border policy and the death of Laken Riley stayed top talking points in Texas GOP Rep. Mónica De La Cruz's Spanish-language rebuttal to Biden's speech.

"On the border, we see the disaster that Biden has caused," she said , adding that she is concerned about drugs and crime influenced by border crossings.

De La Cruz also focused on inflation and economic issues, and added a bit of foreign policy in the mix, noting that China and Russia "are helping the socialist governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua."

She closed with the same final question as fellow GOP rebutter Sen. Katie Britt: "Are you better off now than you were three years ago?"

Sen. Katie Britt focuses on immigration and IVF in rebuttal

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. delivered the GOP response to Biden's speech.

The U.S.-Mexico border continued to be a top talking point into the rebuttal speech given by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.

Britt echoed GOP arguments that Biden created a "border crisis." Laken Riley's death was mentioned once again as an example of a crime committed by someone who has crossed the border.

Britt also voiced support for IVF, a service that has been in legal limbo in her state , stating: "And we want families to grow. It's why we strongly support continued nationwide access to in vitro fertilization. We want to help loving moms and dads bring precious life into this world."

Her speech also focused on threats from China, inflation and the closing question: "Are you better off now than you were three years ago?" The same question was also posed at the end of the Spanish-language rebuttal.

Britt calls out Biden for hypocrisy on TikTok

By Deepa Shivaram

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who delivered the GOP response to Biden's speech, called out Biden on TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

The White House said this week they're backing a bill in Congress that would allow the president to ban TikTok unless it severs ties with ByteDance, citing national security concerns over the company's use of data.

The president has already signed a law that bans the app on government devices. But that hasn't stopped Biden from joining the platform for his campaign. Last month "BidenHQ" joined TikTok, in an attempt to reach younger voters.

"He bans TikTok for government employees, but creates an account for his own campaign," Britt said. "You can't make this stuff up."

Earlier in her remarks, Britt said Chinese Communist Party was "spreading propaganda" through TikTok. "The CCP knows that if it conquers the minds of our next generation, it conquers America."

Biden embraces age, talks of future, criticizes right's 'ancient ideas'

By Domenico Montanaro

President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Joe Biden is old.

Yes. There has been tons of discussion around the 81-year-old president's age. He's the oldest president in the history of the office. Polls show it's one of his biggest vulnerabilities , even lots of Democrats worry about his facility and ability to be president. But Biden tried to move the conversation beyond his age to his ideas, comparing them to the "ancient" ones promulgated by Trump and the right.

He reintroduced himself, saying he had been often criticized for being "too young" when he was elected senator at 29. Biden described hate, anger, and retribution as the oldest ideas and you "can't lead America with ancient ideas." He said the country hasn't always lived up to the ideal that all people are created equal, but said, "I won't walk away from it now. I'm optimistic." And Biden talked about his vision for the future.

Biden's goal tonight was to convince people he's up to the job, and he likely did that for most who are open to voting for him.

Biden heads to Philadelphia Friday, Atlanta Saturday

US President Joe Biden departs after delivering his State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.

Biden hits the road to take his State of the Union message straight to swing state voters starting on Friday.

He'll first head to Philadelphia. On Saturday, the president and first lady Jill Biden will attend a rally in Atlanta, a state where turnout from several communities of color will be critical if Biden is to win the state again.

It's traditional for presidents to travel the country after giving the State of the Union address. And he won't be the only one on the road; Vice President Harris is going to Arizona and Nevada, and cabinet officials will be fanning out around the country.

Biden's SOTU section on abortion never said the word "abortion"

By Danielle Kurtzleben

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on March 07, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Biden's address tonight contained a fiery section on abortion rights, but the president did not use the actual word "abortion."

Reproductive rights advocates have criticized Biden on this note for years, saying he doesn't use the word often enough. One group, We Testify, created a website devoted to this criticism.

In fact, Biden's remarks as written did include the word, saying, "Because Texas law banned abortion, Kate and her husband had to leave the state to get the care she needed" — referring to a Texas woman who received an emergency abortion.

But in delivering his speech, Biden replaced the word "abortion," instead saying "Because Texas law banned her ability to act."

Biden lays blame on Trump — but doesn't mention him by name

Throughout his speech, Biden did not call out former President Donald Trump by name but he did call out his "predecessor" various times. That included claims that Trump:

  • Told Putin to “ Do whatever the hell you want "
  • Wants to "bury the truth" about what happened on Jan. 6, along with other GOP members of Congress
  • Took credit for overturning of Roe v. Wade
  • Didn't "buy American"
  • Wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act
  • Told Republicans to block the bipartisan immigration deal
  • Didn't take action to address gun violence

Biden, off script, talks about crimes by 'illegals'

Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, a Republican from Georgia, center, and US President Joe Biden, right, in the House Chamber ahead of a State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

When Biden was heckled by frequent antagonist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., about his border policies, his ad-libbed response generated criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.

Taylor Greene shouted out the name of Laken Riley , a Georgia student who was killed last month. Trump has blamed Biden for her death. An undocumented Venezuelan immigrant has been arrested for the crime.

Earlier in the day the House passed the Laken Riley Act , which would require the detention of migrants who commit burglary or theft. Green had handed a pin with her name to Biden as he walked into the chamber.

Responding to Taylor Greene, Biden referred to Riley as "Lincoln," and said she had been "killed by an illegal." He added, "But how many thousands of people are being killed by illegals?"

The use of the "illegal" to refer to undocumented migrants quickly received online backlash from progressives, while conservatives criticized the fumble of Laken's name.

Vice President Harris gets a few shout-outs from Biden

US Vice President Kamala Harris smiles as US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.

This speech is a high-profile moment for any vice president. Tonight, Biden his vice president a few times during his address, noting Harris' work on fighting for reproductive rights and on gun violence prevention.

Harris has been the lead figure in the White House taking on protecting abortion rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned. "I thank Vice President Harris for being an incredible leader, defending reproductive freedom and so much more," Biden said.

He also mentioned her work on gun safety. Last year, when Biden established the first ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention , he tapped Harris to lead it.

Biden also mentioned Harris as he talked about the arc of history that he's seen during his many years in politics, noting he had served as vice president to the nation's first Black president — and now serves alongside the first woman to serve as vice president.

What Trump said about Iowa shooting

President Biden, at one point, pointed out that former President Trump had said after a mass shooting in Iowa that people had to "get over it."

House Speaker Mike Johnson shook his head behind Biden as he said it, but here's what Trump said back in January at a campaign rally:

“I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa. It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But have to get over it, we have to move forward."

Up next: Sen. Katie Britt, who will deliver the Republican response

By Heidi Glenn

We're waiting for Alabama Sen. Katie Britt to give the Republican response to Biden's address.

According to excerpts released earlier tonight, Britt is expected to slam the president on border and high costs and will also go after Biden on his withdrawal from Afghanistan and his Iran policy. Stick with us here on this live blog — and our in-studio video stream of NPR's special coverage — in the meantime.

Biden empathizes with people in Gaza, and says Israel must do more to allow aid in

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the annual State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the Capital building on March 7, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Biden was more descriptive than he has been in talking about the civilian death toll in Gaza, where more than 30,000 people have been killed as Israel responds to the October 7th Hamas attack.

"This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined," Biden said. "Thousands and thousands are innocent women and children. Girls and boys also orphaned. Nearly 2 million more Palestinians under bombardment or displaced. Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin. Families without food, water, medicine."

Biden has been criticized for not doing more to speak out against Israel. Tonight, he said Israel has to do more to let more aid into Gaza. "Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip," Biden said.

Read more about Biden's announcement of a port to get more aid into Gaza.

Trump's argumentative State of the Union responses

On Truth Social tonight, Donald Trump's running commentary on Biden's address ranged from the personal ("His hair is much better in the front than on the back!") to the defensive ("Putin only invaded Ukraine, because he has no respect for Biden. Would have never happened under the Trump Administration, and for four years it didn’t happen!"). He also advised Biden not to shake hands as he leaves ("DON’T SHAKE PEOPLE’S HANDS GOING OUT – HE KEEPS COUGHING INTO HIS RIGHT HAND!").

The Truth Social site experienced a spike in outages during the speech but regained function as the night went on.

Guess who's back? Santos 2024

Former GOP Rep. George Santos announced on the social media platform X that he is looking to run in 2024 for a new congressional seat. This time he has his eyes set on New York's 1st District.

The seat is currently held by GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, who won the seat in 2022. Santos was expelled last year by the House.

Biden struggles some toward back of speech, but overall a solid performance so far

US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.

President Biden had a forceful beginning of his speech. Later on, he seemed to struggle some with a choppy back and forth with Republicans on immigration. His voice grew hoarse at times. He mentioned going to Moscow for lower prescription drugs, though he caught himself.

For those who don't like Biden, they'll point to Biden's worst moments as him not being up to the job. But for Democrats, who wanted to see vigor, overall they have to be thrilled with the speech so far — and most, they hope, will remember the forceful beginning of the speech.

The question is whether he is doing enough to convince hesitant independents that they should vote for him again. He showed, at least for one night, he's got some fight left in him.

Biden says no one should go to jail for cannabis

President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Biden said no one should be jailed for using or possessing marijuana, an issue that disproporionately impacts Black Americans.

Most Americans believe marijuana should be legal for medicinal and recreational use.

He said he's been directing his administration to review the federal classification of marijuana. Biden has already pardoned people who had been charged with simple possession of marijuana .

Last year, Biden also issued a statement encouraging governors to take action on marijuana laws in their own states.

"Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either," Biden said in December.

Biden left immigration further down in his speech for a reason

Half an hour into President Biden's address, he'd left immigration out. He led off with democracy, abortion rights, the economy, infrastructure, even mentioned unions, Obamacare, Social Security and more.

It's understandable that Biden would leave immigration to further down, because it's a real vulnerability. The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found just 29% approved of the job Biden was doing handling immigration, and Republicans had a 12-point advantage when respondents were asked which party they thought would do a better job on the issue.

When he got to it, he criticized Republicans for voting against a bill that Republicans negotiated. He knew that this portion would fire up Republicans. It's the animating issue for the GOP. Since the 2011 State of the Union when a South Carolina congressman yelled out, "You lie," it has drawn heckles from Republicans. When Biden mentioned portions of the bill, there were those who yelled out, accusing Biden of lying.

"You're saying no," Biden said to Republicans, "look at the facts. I know you know how to read."

His team expected this back and forth. Biden's response overall was choppy. He has to hope more people will remember the top of his speech.

Read Biden's speech

➡️ Read along with Biden's remarks as prepared for delivery.

Biden proposes tax credit to offset high mortgage rates

"I know the cost of housing is so important to you," Biden said, noting that mortgage rates will come down.

But the president said he didn't want to wait, so he's proposing that Congress pass legislation for an annual tax credit to offset high mortgage rates for first-time homebuyers, and for those who are ready to graduate from their starter home.

The White House, which released the proposed plan earlier today, pitched it as a way of easing the “lock-in effect."

The plan also calls for building and renovating more than 2 million homes.

Biden so far clearing a very low bar on performance

US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Biden has come out of the gate with a very forceful address. He's hammered home key issues everyone will hear a lot about over the next eight months — preserving democracy, Jan. 6, abortion rights and infrastructure.

He jabbed former President Donald Trump, merely referring to him as "my predecessor," noting that he's the "reason Roe was overturned, and he bragged about it." He poked the Supreme Court, quoting it on the power of women at the ballot box — "You're about to find out just how right you were about that."

On infrastructure, he got in a dig at Republicans cheering money for their districts they didn't vote for, saying, "If any of you don't want that money in your district, just let me know."

He's hit on a checklist of issues and voter groups he needs for reelection. Center-right Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, no Trump fan, made this point about the tyranny of low expectations: "Republicans might regret setting the bar at dementia."

Republicans might regret setting the bar at dementia. — Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) March 8, 2024

Capping insulin costs is a big priority for Biden

Biden talked about capping the cost of prescription drugs — a line that often gets enthusiastic applause during his events at the White House and on the road.

"Instead of paying $400 a month for insulin, seniors with diabetes only have to pay $35 a month," Biden said. "And now I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it."

Biden pointed out that costs for drugs in other countries are far less expensive than they are in the U.S.

One problem for Biden with semiconductor jobs: not enough workers to fill them

By NPR staff

Biden has spent a lot of time talking about jobs at semiconductor plants thanks to the CHIPS Act as he makes his reelection pitch. But there's a major hurdle to turning expansion plans into reality — currently, there are not enough workers to fill those jobs.

Read more in this story from NPR's Asma Khalid here.

Truth Social experiences outages during Trump State of the Union response

Amid Trump's live responses to the State of the Union on Truth Social, the site stopped loading for users. The site Down Detector, which tracks outages on popular sites, showed a spike in Truth Social outages starting shortly after the State of the Union began, at 9 p.m. ET.

Biden shouts out Swedish Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson (C) is introduced in first lady Jill Biden’s guest box during U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

Biden shouted out Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, as Sweden officially joined NATO today — a move prompted by Russia's war in Ukraine.

The president started off his remarks talking about the need for the United States to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and send more aid to Ukraine. Aid has been blocked by some Republicans in Congress for months.

“If anyone thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine I assure you he will not," Biden said.

“Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine," Biden said. “That is all Ukraine is asking."

Biden puts democracy at heart of State of the Union — and his presidential campaign

US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.

President Biden is putting democracy and freedom at the center of his State of the Union address, and it's a signal that this will be the overarching theme of his candidacy for reelection. Without naming him, Biden went after former President Trump, saying he is "bowing down" to Russia's Vladimir Putin. He called it "outrageous, dangerous and unacceptable."

"We will not bow down," Biden said. "I will not bow down. In a literal sense, history is watching."

He then called out forcefully those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying they were "not patriots" and noted that the lies about the 2020 election "posed the gravest threat to democracy since the Civil War, but they failed" and "America stood."

He then again called out Trump and House Republicans, saying, "My predecessor — and some of you here — want to bury the truth about Jan. 6. ... We have to bury the lies."

Preserving democracy has risen to the top of many issue polls, and Biden's team believes it, along with abortion rights, are the crystallizing topics that will bring his base back together. Biden's task starts today.

Progressive Democrats sport keffiyehs in support of Palestinians

By Lexie Schapitl

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) attends President Joe Biden's State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on March 07, 2024 in Washington, DC. This is Biden’s last State of the Union address before the general election this coming November. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) are wearing keffiyehs in the chamber tonight as a show of support for Palestinians.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian American to serve in Congress, and Bush are two members of Congress pushing for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. They have been critical of President Biden's support for Israel, and Tlaib was one of more than 100,000 Michiganders to vote "uncommitted" in the state's primary last month.

To many Palestinians, the keffiyeh, a traditional Arab scarf, has become a symbol of their struggle for freedom. For some non-Palestinians, wearing one has become a show of solidarity. Read more from NPR's Linah Mohammed.

Education Secretary Cardona is the designated survivor

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks on the 59th commemoration of the Bloody Sunday Selma bridge crossing on March 3, 2024 in Selma, Alabama.

The designated survivor for tonight’s State of the Union is Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, a White House official told reporters.

It is tradition for one member of the cabinet to not attend the evening's event in case of a catastrophe that would result in the death of the President, Vice President and others in the presidential succession line who would also be gathered in the House chamber.

The rules state that the designated survivor must be a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years old, and he or she must have been a resident of the U.S. for the past 14 years.

President Biden has arrived in the House chamber

Biden has entered the chamber to deliver his 2024 State of the Union address, shaking hands on his way in.

SCOTUS in the House

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts (L), along with Associate Justices (L-R) Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson (back) stand in the House of Representatives ahead of US President Joe Biden's third State of the Union address.

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are in the House chamber, including:

  • Chief Justice John Roberts
  • Justice Sonya Sotomayor
  • Justice Elena Kagan
  • Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
  • Justice Neil Gorsuch
  • Justice Brett Kavanaugh
  • Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy

So far not present are Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett.

An important State of the Union for Biden and politics

US President Joe Biden gestures as he departs the White House for the US Capitol to deliver the State of the Union address.

Democrats are biting their nails. Biden is delivering a State of the Union address in a year he's seeking reelection when his approval ratings are underwater, polls have shown him struggling against former President Trump and he's been lagging with key portions of his base — young voters and Black and Latino voters.

A lot of the angst with younger voters, a crucial part of the coalition Biden needs to help him win, is because of the war in Gaza. He's facing protests tonight in Washington over the war, which is highly unusual. These State of the Union addresses are often for the base — and Biden needs to reassure people who want him to win, start to win back people who should vote for him who are skeptical and show he's up to the task in the hot spotlight given all the questions around his age.

Trump starts his State of the Union response early

Former President Donald Trump posted a State of the Union "prebuttal" to Truth Social Thursday afternoon, consisting of a video in which he assails President Biden on immigration, inflation and climate policy. The message includes multiple lies.

Trump has said he will be doing "rapid response" during the State of the Union on Truth Social. His posts attacking Biden regarding his speech started hours before the State of the Union. We will be following Trump's posts tonight, recapping any notable responses here.

Britt will describe Biden as 'dithering' in her SOTU response

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., will also go after Biden on his withdrawal from Afghanistan and his Iran policy, according to excerpts released ahead of time by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

"We’ve become a nation in retreat. And the enemies of freedom see an opportunity," Britt will say.

She also will call Biden "a dithering and diminished leader" — a description that echoes Special Counsel Robert Hur's depiction of Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man."

“America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are the cornerstones of a great nation," Britt will say.

What to wear?

Lawmakers are preparing to deck themselves out in outfits, buttons and pins that best represent causes important to them.

Members of the Democratic Women's Caucus will be wearing white outfits and “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” pins in the chamber tonight.

“Our message is clear: women must be able to access the health care they need to control their own lives and futures," said Chair Lois Frankel in a statement. "That means women, not politicians, should be in charge of whether, when, and how to start or grow their families. That includes access to birth control, access to abortion, and access to IVF."

For tonight’s State of the Union address, we’re in white and wearing ‘Fighting for Reproductive Freedom’ pins. Our message is clear: we won't stop fighting until all women can access the health care they need to control their own lives and futures. pic.twitter.com/A7nEOjI51l — Democratic Women's Caucus (@DemWomenCaucus) March 7, 2024

A cohort of progressive members of Congress will be wearing pins with the word "ceasefire," in reference to the Israel and Hamas war.

Other members are wearing blue in solidarity with Israeli hostages .

Meanwhile, some House Republicans may be spotted with red " Stop the Biden Border Crisis " and "Laken Riley" buttons. Riley, a student in Georgia, was killed by who immigration officials say was an undocumented immigrant . Earlier in the day the House passed the Laken Riley Act , which would require the detention of any migrant who commits burglary or theft.

Former Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from his seat last year, came wearing a crystal-collared shirt and silver shoes .

Correction (March 8, 2024): An earlier version of this blog post misspelled Lois Frankel's first name as Louis.

Harris and Johnson are in the chamber

US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) stands next to US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson before the start of US President Joe Biden's State of the Union address.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has called the special joint session of Congress to order.

Johnson and Vice President Kamala Harris are announcing the names of the members of Congress on the presidential escort committee.

A farmworker advocate will be one California rep's guest

United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero will be the guest of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Romero, an immigrant from Mexico, is the first Latina and first immigrant woman to become president of a national union in the United States.

"Her presence at the State of the Union will serve as a powerful testament to the strength and diversity of our nation — and a reminder of our ongoing commitment to fighting for the dignity and respect of every worker," Schiff said in a statement.

Biden is leaving the White House for the U.S. Capitol

The president is on his way to deliver his address — heading down to the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. ahead of his 9 p.m. speech. He'll enter the House chamber after other lawmakers, guests, members of his cabinet and the Supreme Court justices have been seated.

Fat Joe on the guest list

Rapper Fat Joe, aka Joseph Antonio Cartagena, will be the guest for Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragán, D-Calif.

Barragán highlighted his work on health care. "Fat Joe’s bipartisan work to highlight the need for price transparency at hospitals, from insurers, and other parts of our health care system is a vital way to ensure that American families aren’t blindsided by huge bills every time after they visit the hospital," Barragán said in a statement.

Fat Joe has worked with the nonprofit Power to the Patients as a spokesperson and has spent time in D.C. talking about the issue.

Other Johnson guests aim to address foreign and immigration policy

One of speaker Mike Johnson's guests will be 21-year-old freed Hamas hostage Mia Schem.

"Mia spent more than 50 days in captivity after being kidnapped on October 7th," Johnson said. "I am proud to stand with Mia and join her in demanding the release of all hostages held captive by Hamas."

He is also bringing to the gallery Tammy Nobles and Stefanie Turner. He is using both parents as examples for his hardline stance on border policy. Both women have lost their children, which has led to their advocacy work. Nobles' daughter was killed by an undocumented immigrant who was a member of the MS-13 gang, and Turner's son died from fentanyl poisoning.

Nobles was previously in D.C. last year to testify before a House panel during a hearing on the Biden administration's immigration and border policies . Turner formed the group Texas Against Fentanyl.

'Bless his heart': Britt will slam Biden on border and high costs

Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) listens during a news conference on border security at the U.S. Capitol Building on September 27, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Biden isn't the only one bringing up age tonight.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who is delivering the GOP response tonight, is the youngest female senator ever elected. And she's taking aim at Biden by saying future generations will have fewer opportunities. She plans to say Americans are struggling to plan for their future.

"The American people are scraping by while the President proudly proclaims Bidenomics is working! Bless his heart. We know better," Britt will say.

She also will go after Biden on securing the border, which polling shows is a weak issue for Biden — though he's started going on the offense to blame congressional Republicans for bailing on a bipartisan agreement on the issue.

“We know that President Biden didn’t just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days," Britt will say. "President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace. It’s despicable. And it’s almost entirely preventable.”

The curse of the State of the Union response

The person who gives the response to the State of the Union has often fell on hard times politically — not always, but it has happened often enough that it's referred to as the State of the Union "curse."

“The biggest problem with giving the State of the Union response is stark contrast ,” the late PBS NewsHour contributor Mark Shields told Politico in 2014. “You’re following a ceremonial event—joint chiefs, supremes, ambassadors, plus, since the Gipper [Ronald Reagan], everyday heroes in the balcony. And you, the responder, are sitting in an empty room staring into a camera [and] teleprompter.”

Here's a look at some who fell under the SOTU voodoo this century:

2019: Stacey Abrams lost her bid for governor in 2022. 2018: Rep. Joseph Kennedy's glossy lips gained attention but the shine wore off later that year, losing a Senate primary. 2014: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers rose to House leadership but never went higher, announcing this year she is not running for reelection. 2013: Sen. Marco Rubio went viral quenching his thirst during his response and then his bid for the presidency in 2016 wound up all wet. 2011: Paul Ryan went on to be on the losing presidential ticket as VP in 2012, climbed to House speaker but then resigned from the post and is now out of politics. 2010: Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was a rising star but then was indicted and is out of politics 2009: Bobby Jindal was a rising star, but his awkward response hurt his chances for president in 2012. 2008: Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius became Health and Human Services secretary overseeing the botched rollout of healthcare.gov. She's out of politics. 2004: Former Sen. Tom Daschle lost his Senate seat that year and, in 2009, was forced to withdraw his nomination for HHS secretary because of tax return errors. 2002: Dick Gephardt was House minority leader but after Democrats lost seats that year, he resigned from the leadership post.

It hasn't always been bad. Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders gave the response in 2023 and is still governor.

On the day Sweden joins NATO, their prime minister attends SOTU

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken receives the NATO ratification documents from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a ceremony at the US State Department, as Sweden formally joins the North Atlantic alliance, in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will be a guest of the president tonight.

Sweden officially joined NATO today, something Biden pushed hard for in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Finland, also a recent add to the alliance, officially joined last year.

In his remarks, Biden is expected to call on Congress to pass aid for Ukraine, which has been held up for months.

How Biden plans to address his age — and Trump

Biden plans to deflect concerns about his age — and to draw a distinction from former President Donald Trump (without directly naming him) on issues of democracy and and freedom.

“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” Biden will say, according to prepared remarks released by the White House. “A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.

“Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.”

Why George Santos is at the State of the Union

By Tamara Keith

Ousted Republican Rep. George Santos (C) of New York talks with U.S. Reps. Al Green (D-TX) (L) and Joe Negus (D-CO) ahead of the annual State of the Union address by President Joe Biden.

Last year, when George Santos was still a congressman, he nabbed a coveted on-camera position near the center aisle for the State of the Union speech. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, gave him an earful, and afterward told reporters "he shouldn't be there and if he had any shame at all, he wouldn't be there."

In December, accused by prosecutors of a number of financial misdeeds, he became the sixth House member ever to be expelled from Congress.

But that didn't stop him from using a perk offered to all former members — floor privileges — to appear for tonight's speech.

➡️ Read more about the politics of shame here.

What are junk fees?

The Biden administration has coined the term "junk fees" to talk about unnecessary or excessive fees tacked onto a purchase — like resort fees, concert ticket fees and car rental fees. It also applies to fees that banks impose, such as overdraft fees.

He talked about it in his State of the Union last year, and the issue picked up steam after fans expressed frustration at Ticketmaster for how they handled the sale of tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras tour.

As part of an effort to try and lower costs for Americans, Biden has directed agencies to go after companies that aren't being transparent or are overcharging people. For example, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau recently announced a new rule that would cap late credit card payment fees at $8, down from the average of $32. (That move is now facing a lawsuit, which would likely delay or prevent the change)

Polling shows getting rid of junk fees is extremely popular across both parties, and Biden has otherwise struggled to win over voters on his handling of the economy, which remains a top issue in the 2024 election.

Biden often complains there's no editors anymore. Here's his jab at the media tonight

Biden often expresses frustrations with reporters about what he perceives as their negative coverage of his administration. "There's no editors anymore," he complained to donors in New York last month.

Tonight he'll accuse the media of failing to cover the positive economic results during his time in office. "It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told," Biden is set to say, according to excerpts released by the White House.

Will Biden roll out a new sick burn this year?

Last year, Biden ad-libbed a line in his speech that got people… wondering.

"As my football coach used to say, 'Lots of luck in your senior year,'" Biden said.

We talked to linguists and even an old high school pal of Biden’s to help translate.

➡️ Find out what it means here.

Some Democrats are hoping Biden will go off script again

By Deirdre Walsh

Last year Biden energized Democrats by getting into a back-and-forth with Republicans about protecting Social Security. Pennsylvania Democrat Matt Cartwright represents Scranton, Pa., — where Biden grew up — and hopes he'll go off script again.

"He needs to get his Irish up the way he did last year," Cartwright told NPR. He pushed back at the president's handlers who want to keep him on message and said they shouldn't be worried about any gaffes. "The gaffes are already baked into his numbers, and they have been for decades."

Cartwright is one of many congressional Democrats in competitive races this fall whose political fates could be tied to Biden's this November. That's why they want him to use his State of the Union address, when millions will be tuning in, to showcase the economic progress he's made in his first term, and explain how he'll build on it with four more years in the White House.

➡️ Read more: Vulnerable Democrats want Biden's address to focus on border and the economy

Parents of detained WSJ reporter in the audience

Ella Milman & Mikhail Gershkovich will be guests of Speaker Mike Johnson. They are the parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen detained by Russia's Federal Security Service nearly a year ago while on a reporting trip.

He is held on an allegation of espionage that he, the Journal and the U.S. government have denied. Calls for his release have been bipartisan .

"The US must always stand for freedom of the press, especially in places where it is under assault," Johnson said in a post on X . "The Admin must bring Evan home."

I’m honored to host Ella Milman & Mikhail Gershkovich for the State of the Union, shining a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son, Evan. The US must always stand for freedom of the press, especially in places where it is under assault. The Admin must bring Evan home. https://t.co/FCyCEipG6K — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 5, 2024

Americans are concerned about housing costs. Biden is proposing new help for that

By Laurel Wamsley

Many Americans are concerned about the high cost of housing. Tonight, Biden will call on Congress to pass legislation to give first-time homebuyers a $10,000 tax credit, according to a plan laid out by the White House.

He's also proposing a $10,000 tax credit to nudge middle-class Americans who currently own starter homes towards selling them and moving to a home that fits them better. It's pitched as a way of easing the “lock-in effect” that has taken hold amid rising housing costs and high interest rates.

Biden will ask voters to give him a Congress to restore abortion rights

Biden has long been saying that abortion rights in Roe v. Wade should be restored — but without Congress, there's not much he can do about it.

On the road, Biden has said he will veto any national bans on abortion Congress tries to pass. But he also wants voters to elect more Democrats to the Senate — and flip the House blue — in order for legislation to pass.

"Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America," Biden will say, according to excerpts released by the White House. "But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024."

"If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again," Biden will say.

One White House guest: Kate Cox, who was denied an abortion in Texas

By Vanessa Romo

(L-R) Maria Shriver, former first lady of California, Kate Cox, abortion rights advocate, and Latorya Beasley, in vitro fertilization (IVF) recipient and reproductive health care advocate, sit in first lady Jill Biden’s guest box during U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

Biden and Democrats invited a series of guests tonight to show how new abortion restrictions are affecting people's lives.

Kate Cox, 31, is a Texas mother of two who was denied an emergency abortion by the state Supreme Court in December. Cox was nearly 20 weeks into her pregnancy when doctors diagnosed the fetus with Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome, a condition with extremely low chances of survival.

Cox also faced other complications, including cramping and a high risk of developing gestational hypertension and diabetes. By November, when Cox first petitioned a lower court for an exception to Texas' extremely restrictive abortion bans, she had been in the emergency room four times, according to court filings.

The state's high court found that Cox's lawyers and doctor had not proven she was eligible for an abortion under the state's narrow exception allowances. Following that decision, Cox left the state to get the procedure in New Mexico.

Read more about the guests who will be there tonight.

Biden preps with the stars

President Biden got some 'advice' on his big speech today from a group of past presidents.

Actors Morgan Freeman, Tony Goldwyn, Geena Davis, Michael Douglas and Bill Pullman have played the role of president in movies and TV shows and shared some wisdom in a light-hearted social media post.

"Just keep telling us how you're working for us and building hope," Freeman said.

"Tell them you exist for them," Goldwyn said, adding that Biden should unwind with some ice cream afterward.

"There's no crying in politics," Davis added.

You may’ve heard I’ve got a big speech coming up. So, I thought I would hear from some folks who have done the job before – sort of. pic.twitter.com/7wFYVQm7Xm — President Biden (@POTUS) March 7, 2024

A Texas Republican will give a Spanish-language rebuttal

Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) listens during a press conference on funding for the southern border alongside Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY) at the U.S. Capitol Building on September 29, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, was designated by Republican leaders to give the Spanish-language rebuttal tonight. It will air on Telemundo and Univision and YouTube.

De La Cruz took office in 2023, flipping the south Texas seat . In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson lauded De La Cruz for being the first Hispanic woman and Republican to represent the district.

"Congresswoman De La Cruz’s journey to Congress is nothing short of inspirational and encapsulates the very essence of what it means to live the American dream," he said.

Here are some of the guests who will attend tonight's speech

By NPR Staff

Left: Bettie Mae Fikes of "The Freedom Singers” in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz on September 29, 2019 in Cadiz, Spain. Right: Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson listens during the NATO ratification ceremony with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US State Department, as Sweden formally joins the North Atlantic alliance, in Washington, D.C., on March 7, 2024.

A gospel singer and civil rights activist known as "the Voice of Selma," the prime minister of Sweden and a middle school teacher whose student loan debt was forgiven — these are some of the people who will be special guests at tonight's State of the Union address.

It's part of the annual tradition for the White House to invite guests who bring to life the themes of the presidential speech. Political opponents of the president also bring guests to help criticize the administration's policies.

Among the guests the White House invited:

  • Bettie Mae Fikes , a  singer  and civil rights leader who marched on Bloody Sunday, in Selma, Ala., nearly six decades ago.
  • Prime Minister  Ulf Kristersson  of Sweden, whose country has just  officially joined NATO .
  • Keenan Jones , a middle school teacher in Plymouth, Minn., whose student loan debt was forgiven.
  • Jazmin Cazares , who became an advocate for tougher gun laws after  her sister Jackie  was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

➡️ Read more about the guests who will be there tonight.

Biden plans to announce a new port to deliver Gaza aid

Biden is expected to announce tonight that the U.S. military will lead an emergency mission to build a new pier on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza so that large ships can deliver food, water, medicine and temporary shelters there.

As NPR's Greg Myre reports , the temporary pier will not require U.S. troops to land in Gaza, though the details of how this will work are not yet clear. United Nations workers and other aid groups will distribute the aid, officials told reporters. Biden is under pressure to do more to help civilians in Gaza given the scale of the crisis .

Who's giving the Republican response after the State of the Union?

Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) walks to a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 27, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Following Biden's address, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama will deliver the GOP response. Trump endorsed Britt when she ran in 2022 after rescinding his endorsement of one of her primary opponents who had made comments about moving past the 2020 election. She's the first woman elected to the Senate from Alabama, and the only current Republican mom of school-aged kids serving in the chamber.

In announcing the news Britt had been selected to give the response, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Britt "is fighting to preserve the American Dream for the next generation. She is a champion for strong families, a secure border, national defense and a vibrant economy with stable prices and opportunities for all. The American people will tune in as the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate turns the page on the oldest president in history."

Here's how to watch tonight's speech — and find NPR's special live coverage

The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

We'll embed a livestream of Biden's remarks on this blog as we approach 9 p.m. ET. The stream will also include in-studio coverage with NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, White House Correspondent Asma Khalid, National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson and Congressional Correspondent Claudia Grisales.

NPR's live special coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. You can find it on your local NPR member station  or  the NPR app.

What to expect tonight, per Biden's chief of staff

By Rachel Treisman

White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients, pictured with President Biden in February 2023.

There are a few things we can expect from tonight's State of the Union: An audience packed with reactive lawmakers and notable guests, a lengthy speech and a lot of scrutiny, from those in the room and watching at home.

The address is an opportunity for presidents to tout their recent accomplishments and future agenda. The stakes are especially high for Biden this year, since it's his last such speech before the presidential election — which, in the wake of Super Tuesday, is looking all but certain to be a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told NPR's Morning Edition that Biden will discuss his administration's handling of top issues like the economy, immigration and the Israel-Hamas war, as well as his goals for a potential second term.

"Lowering costs, continuing to make people's lives better by investing in childcare, eldercare, paid family and medical leave, continued progress on student debt," Zients said, listing a few. "But I think importantly, the president is also going to call for restoring Roe v. Wade and giving women freedom over their healthcare. And he'll talk about protecting, not taking away, freedoms in other areas, as well as voting rights."

But Zients also acknowledged that restoring Roe  is one of many objectives that the president can't accomplish without Congress, where Republican instability and infighting has held up key parts of Biden's agenda, including delivering aid to Ukraine and managing the southern border.

Some recommended reading ahead of the 9 p.m. speech:

  • Biden's test in the State of the Union tonight is to show he's still got what it takes
  • President Biden's State of the Union speech faces dual political challenges
  • Here are some of the guests who represent the themes of tonight's State of the Union
  • What to expect in Biden's State of the Union speech, according to his chief of staff
  • 5 takeaways from Biden's State of the Union address (2023)
  • International edition
  • Australia edition
  • Europe edition

a woman in a green shirt seated at a table speaks into the camera

Republicans baffled by Katie Britt’s State of the Union response: ‘One of our biggest disasters’

The 42-year-old Alabama senator is a rising Republican star but her kitchen table speech did not land well even in her own party

  • Joe Biden delivers feisty State of the Union address with vision for his second term
  • ‘Not fair at all’: Sex trafficking victim says Britt distorted her story

Katie Britt’s Republican response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address drew reactions ranging from the baffled to the satirical to the appalled, even among fellow rightwingers.

“What the hell am I watching right now?” an unnamed Trump adviser told Rolling Stone.

“It’s one of our biggest disasters ever,” another unnamed Republican strategist told the Daily Beast.

Delivering the official State of the Union response can be a thankless task, as the former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and the Florida senator Marco Rubio , deliverers of previously panned speeches, would ruefully attest.

Nonetheless, the 42-year-old Alabama senator is a rising Republican star, widely respected on Capitol Hill and her selection to respond to Biden was a golden opportunity to introduce herself to the wider American electorate.

In his address Biden used his bully pulpit effectively, attacking Republicans in a fiery speech and inviting a strong response . But Britt’s speech, delivered with overt theatricality, oscillating in tone between the wholesome and the wholly horrific, did not land well even in her own party.

Charlie Kirk, founder of the far-right Turning Point USA youth group, said : “I’m sure Katie Britt is a sweet mom and person, but this speech is not what we need. Joe Biden just declared war on the American right and Katie Britt is talking like she’s hosting a cooking show, whispering about how Democrats ‘dont get it’.”

That pointed to widespread confusion over the setting for such a figure to give such an important speech: a kitchen.

As a Gallup poll showed 57% of American voters think the US would be better off if more women were in elected office, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a Trump aide turned never-Trumper, said : “Senator Katie Britt is a very impressive person … I do not understand the decision to put her in a KITCHEN for one of the most important speeches she’s ever given.”

Speaking to CNN, Griffin added : “The staging of this was bizarre to me. Women can be both wives and mothers and also stateswomen, so to put her in a kitchen, not at a podium or in the Senate chamber where she was elected after running a hard-fought race, I think fell very flat and was completely confusing to some women watching it.”

Allie Beth Stuckey , host of the Relatable podcast, which “analyses culture, news and politics from a biblical perspective”, said : “Ok, GOP. Never again. I know y’all were going for the relatable mom speaking in her kitchen from her heart, but it didn’t work. Just a straight, strong speech will do in the future. Thanks.”

Kirk asked followers if they liked the speech. Blue-ticked conservative verdicts included “Man, it was so disappointing”, “No, very babysitter-reading-a-bedtime story-like”, “way too dramatic”, and “the up and down emotion was bizarre”.

Among satirical responses, Tom Nichols, an anti-Trump conservative columnist, spoke for many when he said : “There is no way that this Katie Britt address does not end up as part of the Saturday Night Live cold open.”

Elsewhere, the gonzo filmmaker Tom Arnold said : “Katie Britt is so bad she couldn’t be in one of my movies.”

Julia Ioffe, Washington correspondent for Puck News, said : “Imagine you’re sleeping over at a friend’s house and you get up in the middle of the night to pee and you hear a weird sound so you follow it to the kitchen, where your friend’s mom is drunk, crying, and rambling about the national debt. Those are the vibes from Katie Britt right now.”

From the other side of the political spectrum, however, the gun control advocate Shannon Watts highlighted a darker side to Britt’s performance, as expressed in a particularly lurid passage.

With wavering voice, the senator described meeting a migrant woman who she said described being “sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12” and who, Britt said, spoke of being repeatedly raped “on a mattress in a shoebox of a room”.

Watts said : “Senator Katie Britt says sexual assault is the worst thing that can happen to a woman while encouraging Americans to vote for a convicted sexual predator.”

Last month, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, was ordered to pay $83.3m in a civil defamation case arising from a rape allegation a judge said was “substantially true”. Accused of sexual assault or misconduct by more than 20 other women, Trump also faces trial this month on 34 charges arising from hush-money payments to an adult film star who claimed an affair.

Britt endorsed Trump last December.

  • State of the Union address
  • US politics
  • Republicans

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SCOTUS is hearing 2 cases about political censorship on social media that could change how the internet works forever

  • SCOTUS is hearing arguments that, depending on the outcome, could change how the internet works.
  • The laws in question prevent social sites from removing political posts or figures from their platforms.
  • Legal experts told BI the states' victory, while unlikely, would erode the First Amendment.  

Insider Today

The Supreme Court of the United States has had its hands full this session, hearing important arguments about redistricting and gerrymandering in South Carolina, whether domestic-violence-related restrictions on the ownership of firearms are a violation of the Second Amendment, and deciding that former President Donald Trump is eligible to be on the ballot again this year.

But a pair of laws being quietly considered by the highest court in the land could — depending on how SCOTUS rules — change the way the internet works forever, legal experts told Business Insider.

The two laws in question

The laws in question — one out of Texas ( NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton ) and another from Florida ( Moody v. NetChoice ) — are aimed at preventing social sites from removing political posts or figures from their platforms, with the conservative leaders of each state arguing platforms like Facebook and X have unfairly targeted and removed posts made by Republican users.

The Florida law, backed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis , created fines of $250,000 against social companies that barred candidates for statewide office from their platforms and $25,000 for removing candidates for local office. It also created mechanisms for average users to sue social media companies if they believed the companies were unfairly applying their content moderation rules based on political leanings.

The Texas law prohibits social companies from moderating users' posts based on viewpoint, with a caveat allowing the platforms to restrict illegal content. It also requires the companies to disclose how they moderate and promote content on their sites and maintain a complaint-and-appeal system for users.

While it's reasonable to question whether social media platforms have uniformly applied their content moderation policies concerning political viewpoints, as well as debate if there's more that social companies can do to promote constructive discourse online, legal experts told BI the function of these laws does more harm than good.

The stakes of a government win

Two legal experts told BI that a victory for the states in these cases would be a massive blow to the First Amendment because the amendment grants the privilege of free speech to companies and individuals and prevents the government from forcing them to speak — or not speak — in a certain way. Should the laws take effect, the government would be allowed to infringe on the social media companies' right to free speech by compelling platforms to host certain content.

"If the states win, then I expect that we are going to very quickly have a very different sort of internet experience," Justin (Gus) Hurwitz, academic director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology, Innovation & Competition, told BI.

Hurwitz said companies will likely do two things immediately: "The first is they will, at least on a temporary basis, stop hosting content, comments, user-generated speech, discussion forums, and things like that."

Picture an empty timeline or your social media feed filled only with posts from companies paying to advertise on the platform. If these laws are permitted to stand, that's what the social media landscape could look like, at least until the sites update their business practices.

And it might not stop at social media companies, Hurtwitz noted, due to the broad language in the laws. Sites all over the internet could be required to host all kinds of unpleasant user-generated content or products on platforms like Etsy , or reviews on Uber , so long as the government can prevent the companies from removing the content.

The second action social companies would likely take, Hurwitz said, would involve identifying new ways to operate in an environment where the government could compel them to host certain types of speech — which could mean blocking features like forums from being accessed in states like Florida or Texas.

A publisher or common carrier?

Lawyers defending the Florida law have argued to the Supreme Court that the lower courts wrongly ruled that user-generated speech hosted on social media platforms constitutes protected speech from the company itself.

"The Eleventh Circuit erroneously concluded that Florida could not regulate social-media platforms as common carriers, and in doing so, require the platforms to openly accept users," Ars Technica reported Florida argued.

Florida's argument broaches a broader question raised by the two laws, Hurwitz noted: whether social media companies should be treated as publishers, like a newspaper which has editorial discretion, or common carriers like phone companies, which offer connectivity to everyone regardless of what they're saying to the person on the other line.

Common carriers must provide service to all customers and host all legal content, while publishers are granted leeway under the First Amendment to pick and choose who they serve and the content they amplify. If large social media companies are determined to be common carriers, each platform's right to curate, amplify, or remove content on their site as they see fit vanishes.

"And what is social media? You can see how it has characteristics of both," Hurwitz said, "But they're not newspapers. They're not phone companies. They're not shopping malls or telegraphs. They're not radio or broadcast TV or cable television. They're something different. So that's the dichotomy: Are they more like newspapers or common carriers? The answer might just be, no, that they're something different altogether, and there's got to be some other way that the Court tells us we need to think about the First Amendment issues in these cases."

Jared Carter, a professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School and attorney with the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic, told BI he thinks it's unlikely that the court will need to classify social media companies as a new, third category to both protect the First Amendment principles as well as the rights of private companies to do business as they see fit.

"There is a history of courts struggling with how to apply these doctrines that have existed for a long time to new and emerging technology. And I think there's often a lot of hand-wringing: Does it work? Does it fit perfectly to this new technology?" Carter said. "If you really sit down and think about it, it's not actually all that complicated — you can't force a private individual or a private company to speak to the world in a way it doesn't want to speak based on viewpoint."

What SCOTUS is thinking

The Supreme Court heard nearly four hours of arguments on these cases on February 26, with the conservative-majority justices raising concerns about the government compelling social media companies to host certain content and the broad scope of both laws and their potential enforcement mechanisms.

"The First Amendment restricts what the government can do," CNN reported Chief Justice John Roberts said. "What the government's doing here is saying, 'you must do this, you must carry these people — you've got to explain if you don't.' That's not the First Amendment."

Justice Samuel Alito, however, observed that the companies in question are very different from the technologies around which previous First Amendment cases have been decided. CNN noted he worried about the court resisting "the Orwellian temptation to recategorize offensive conduct in seemingly bland terms."

Ultimately, Hurwitz noted, five or six justices appeared poised to declare that the laws violate First Amendment precedents. However, he expects the court's ruling on these cases will raise deeper legal questions than the initial issues at hand.

"This is probably an epochal case. It's going to raise more questions than it answers and could define the discussions we will have around these topics for the next 10, 20, even 30 years," Hurwiz said. "And it's probably going to do very little to actually answer any of those questions — because they're hard, hard questions. So if you're watching this case, expecting this is going to answer the issue once and for all, prepare to be disappointed in really interesting ways."

Watch: How the net neutrality repeal will hurt small businesses — including anyone who sells things on sites like Etsy

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Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco Delivers Keynote Remarks at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime

San Francisco , CA United States

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Ray, for that very kind introduction — and for your continued leadership of the Institute.

I appreciate the invitation to speak again at this gathering and to give the Larry Barcella Memorial Lecture. My memories of Larry are from my time as a newly-minted AUSA in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office — and as an even newer member of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court. More than once, I witnessed Larry pointedly critique a DOJ official about the wisdom — or lack thereof — of the latest corporate enforcement policy.  

Today, I’ll provide an update on our efforts and tell you what’s top of mind as we confront today’s corporate enforcement landscape.

And in honor of Larry, I’ll no doubt give you something to critique.

The bottom line up front is that we’ve been executing on the priorities we set at the beginning of the administration. And our approach is straightforward. We identify the most serious wrongdoers — individual and corporate — and focus our full energy on holding them accountable. Those who break the law pay the price.

Accountability promotes fairness, drives deterrence, and fosters respect for the rule of law. At its best, it should also encourage investments in building a culture of compliance. That way, we’re not simply bringing cases — we’re also building an enforcement framework that promotes good corporate citizenship.

This approach benefits everyone. Consumers, investors, employees, and shareholders — of course. But also all Americans, who deserve — who demand — a criminal justice system that holds accountable those who break the law, from the street corner to the corner office.

So, we are:

  • Holding individuals accountable for corporate misconduct;
  • Demanding stiffer penalties for corporate recidivists;
  • Using a mix of carrots and sticks to promote responsible corporate citizenship; and
  • as we do, we’re evolving to meet new and emerging threats — threats from disruptive technologies — including one you might have heard of: artificial intelligence.

Our first priority has been — and will continue to be — individual accountability. Companies can only act through individuals.

The rule of law demands that those most culpable for a company’s misconduct are the ones being charged, prosecuted, and convicted.

From the beginning, we promised to follow every corporate case up the company’s org chart — no matter where the evidence took us. We also asked prosecutors to be bold —and they’ve done so.

In just the last few months, Justice Department agents and prosecutors have secured convictions of the CEOs of the world’s two largest cryptocurrency platforms — FTX and Binance.

That’s on top of convictions, in the past few years, of the chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Theranos, two managing directors of Goldman Sachs, and dozens of executives across a range of industries, including investment firms, health care companies, and defense contractors – all charged and convicted of federal crimes.

This is challenging work. As we investigate more complex schemes, in more corners of the globe, with more evidence to gather and disclose, we’re inevitably devoting more resources to each individual case.

And in part because we’re bringing serious charges, with significant penalties, against senior executives, we’re also taking more cases to trial.

We’re driving real accountability.

We’re also delivering consequences for corporate recidivists. A little over a year ago, we made clear that we would account for a company’s criminal, civil, and regulatory history when considering the appropriate resolution. 

Of course, not all prior conduct is created equal, and not all companies are similarly situated. But we apply the same principle to companies that we always have to individuals.

A history of misconduct matters.

After all, penalties exist, in part, to deter future misconduct. They’re not the cost of doing business. So when a company breaks the law again — and it’s clear the message wasn’t received — we need to ratchet up the sanctions.

Take Ericsson. When it breached its 2019 DPA, we refused to resolve the case in 2023 for anything less than a corporate guilty plea.

Or Teva Pharmaceuticals. In 2016, it resolved an FCPA violation with a DPA. When the company faced investigation for price fixing in 2023 — we demanded a more substantial penalty. For the first time ever, we made specific performance a part of the remedy: we required the company to sell off an entire product line — a novel approach tailored to the company’s unique circumstances.

If your company has had a recent brush with the law, now is the time to invest — and reinvest — in your compliance programs.

I can assure you the price of committing another violation will be far higher than the cost of preventing one.

But the throughline for our enforcement framework is rooted in the time-honored understanding that people — and corporations — respond to incentives. 

It’s human nature, and it’s what makes the business world spin.

I understand the challenges and tradeoffs that your clients face when managing an organization with thousands of employees, complex operations, and a Fortune 100-level budget. I know because I’m the COO of one such organization.

Companies fulfill their fiduciary duty to shareholders when they support behavior that rejects wrongdoing for the sake of profit. When they follow the rules and anticipate problems. And when they reward pro-compliance — as well as pro-profit — behavior.

So, we’ve implemented policies to incentivize investing in a culture of compliance — before misconduct happens.

Take, for example, our approach to clawbacks. Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a pay cut. That’s why the Criminal Division has been providing a dollar-for-dollar credit to companies that claw back or withhold compensation from culpable employees. It ensures that the actual wrongdoers are actually paying for their misconduct.

We’ve also implemented new Department policies on voluntary self-disclosure. Those policies are consistent, transparent, and predictable.

We want to make the math easy. When a business discovers that its employees broke the law, the company is far better off reporting the violation than waiting for DOJ to discover it.

Now, when DOJ does discover the violation, the company can still reduce its exposure by proactively cooperating in our investigation.

But I want to be clear: no matter how good a company’s cooperation, a resolution will always be more favorable with voluntary self-disclosure.

We’ve structured our Voluntary Self Disclosure (VSD) programs to encourage companies to take responsibility for misconduct within their organizations. And we’ve conditioned benefits on the company’s willingness to step up and own up — requiring it to disgorge profits, upgrade compliance systems, and cooperate in investigations of culpable employees.

That’s good for everyone, especially general counsels and compliance officers.

We want to empower them to make the business case for investing in compliance. And when they do, they can point to our policies.

Early reports on this work are promising. We directed all components and U.S. Attorneys to implement self-disclosure programs, and we’re seeing innovation — as you’d expect from our talented women and men.

Offices are starting to explore variations. At least two U.S. Attorney’s Offices — led by the Southern District of New York and recently the Northern District of California — are piloting initiatives that are, in essence, voluntary self-disclosure programs for individuals.

Both are offering non-prosecution agreements to certain categories of at-fault individuals who self-disclose wrongdoing and cooperate against other, more culpable targets. We look forward to evaluating the results of these pilots and determining what’s to come later this year.

As we work to encourage more reporting, we also want to engage traditional corporate whistleblowers — the people not involved in the wrongdoing but who discover misconduct by others and blow the whistle. 

Now, whistleblowing can take many forms.

Take corporate acquisitions. Last October, we announced a disclosure program to incentivize companies engaged in acquisitions to surface misconduct in their due diligence and report it. That way, we identify wrongdoing and the wrongdoers.

In these situations, the acquiror hasn’t done anything wrong — and we want it to report the acquiree’s misconduct, so we can prosecute the responsible individuals, make victims whole, and rectify problems.

To be clear, this policy does not limit the Department’s robust antitrust enforcement efforts. In fact, it complements them by ensuring that misconduct doesn’t get swept under the rug.

So, I’m pleased to say that, today, we’ve codified this policy in the Department’s Justice Manual, including the key provision that it only applies to bona fide, arms-length transactions.

But we recognized there’s another way we can encourage individuals to report misconduct: by rewarding whistleblowers. And how do we do that? Money.

Going back to the days of “Wanted” posters across the Old West, law enforcement has long offered rewards to coax tipsters out of the woodwork. And today, we’re announcing a program to update how DOJ uses monetary rewards to strengthen our corporate enforcement efforts.

Ever since Dodd-Frank created whistleblower programs at the SEC and the CFTC, those agencies have received thousands of tips, paid out many hundreds of millions of dollars, and disgorged billions in ill-gotten gains from corporate bad actors.

Yet both programs, and similar ones at IRS and FinCEN — by their very nature — are limited in scope. They only cover misconduct within their agencies’ jurisdictions. And qui tam actions, which offer their own whistleblowing incentives, are only available for fraud against the government.

These programs have proven indispensable — but they resemble a patchwork quilt that doesn’t cover the whole bed. They simply don’t address the full range of corporate and financial misconduct that the Department prosecutes.

So, we are filling these gaps.

Under current law, the Attorney General is authorized to pay awards for information or assistance leading to civil or criminal forfeitures. In the past, we’ve used this authority here and there — but never as part of a targeted program.

Now’s the time to expand our use of this tool in corporate misconduct cases and apply it to reward whistleblowing.

So we’re planning something new: a DOJ-run whistleblower rewards program. Today, we’re launching a 90-day sprint to develop and implement a pilot program, with a formal start date later this year.

The premise is simple: if an individual helps DOJ discover significant corporate or financial misconduct — otherwise unknown to us — then the individual could qualify to receive a portion of the resulting forfeiture.

Over the next several months, we’ll fill out the particulars, and Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri will discuss that process in greater detail tomorrow. But we’ve already established some basic guardrails. For example, we’d offer payments:

  • Only after all victims have been properly compensated;
  • Only to those who submit truthful information not already known to the government;
  • Only to those not involved in the criminal activity itself;
  • And only in cases where there isn’t an existing financial disclosure incentive — including qui tam or another federal whistleblower program.

Used proactively, this program will fill gaps. It will create new incentives for individuals to report misconduct to the Department. And it will drive companies to invest further in their own internal compliance and reporting systems.

Now, for all the potential whistleblowers listening today, you might be wondering what to look out for. While we’ll always accept information about violations of any federal law, we’re especially interested in information about:

  • Criminal abuses of the U.S. financial system;
  • Foreign corruption cases outside the jurisdiction of the SEC, including FCPA violations by non-issuers and violations of the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act; and
  • Domestic corruption cases, especially involving illegal corporate payments to government officials.

Maybe you work — or your client does — at a fast-growing private startup here in the Bay Area, and you discover the company's been paying bribes to get regulatory approvals and doctoring the books to hide the payments. If you come forward, you could get paid as part of the recovery from that criminal case.

Or maybe you’ve got a client at a private equity firm, and she discovers the CFO is forging underlying loan documents. Once again, if your client reports it, a portion of the recovery could be hers.

As we take this on, it’s important to underscore a central aspect of all whistleblower programs. To be eligible for a reward, you have to tell us something we didn’t already know. You have to be the first in the door.

Now this is key. Why? Because the same rule applies to the Department’s VSD programs.

When everyone needs to be first in the door, no one wants to be second—regardless of whether they’re an innocent whistleblower, a potential defendant looking to minimize criminal exposure, or the audit committee of a company where the misconduct took place.

These incentives reinforce each other and create a multiplier effect, encouraging both companies and individuals to tell us what they know as soon as they know it.

This helps us build the strongest criminal cases against the most culpable wrongdoers. It helps us impose the most significant penalties on those who most deserve it. And it helps us use our carrots to wield larger sticks.

With these announcements, our message to whistleblowers is clear: the Department of Justice wants to hear from you. And to those considering a voluntary self-disclosure, our message is equally clear: knock on our door before we knock on yours.  

Today, there are more doors for us to knock on than ever. The global threat landscape is changing rapidly — and, as always, we’re evolving to meet new and emerging threats, including those from the malicious use of disruptive technologies.

And now, the ultimate disruptive technology — artificial intelligence — looms larger than ever.

Last month, in a speech at Oxford University, I laid out the Department’s focus on AI and its potential impact on our justice system.

All new technologies are a double-edged sword — but AI may be the sharpest blade yet. It holds great promise to improve our lives — but great peril when criminals use it to supercharge their illegal activities, including corporate crime.

While we work to responsibly harness the benefits of AI, we are alert to its risks, and we will be using our tools in new ways to address them.

To be clear:

Fraud using AI is still fraud.

Price fixing using AI is still price fixing.

And manipulating markets using AI is still market manipulation.

You get the picture.

We have long used sentencing enhancements to seek increased penalties for criminals whose conduct presents especially serious risks to their victims and to the public at large — like increased penalties for criminals that use firearms or other dangerous weapons.

The same principle applies to AI. Where AI is deliberately misused to make a white-collar crime significantly more serious, our prosecutors will be seeking stiffer sentences — for individual and corporate defendants alike.

And compliance officers should take note. When our prosecutors assess a company’s compliance program — as they do in all corporate resolutions — they consider how well the program mitigates the company’s most significant risks. And for a growing number of businesses, that now includes the risk of misusing AI.

That’s why, going forward and wherever applicable, our prosecutors will assess a company’s ability to manage AI-related risks as part of its overall compliance efforts. 

To that end, I have directed the Criminal Division to incorporate assessment of disruptive technology risks — including risks associated with AI — into its guidance on Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.

I recently also announced a new initiative called “Justice AI” — a series of convenings with stakeholders across industry, academia, law enforcement, and civil society — to address the impacts of AI.

I will convene the first of those Justice AI discussions today here in the Bay Area. And we will use these conversations to inform the Department’s AI policy on a range of fronts, including the corporate compliance issues I’ve asked the Criminal Division to consider.

Now, in the coming days, your clients may want the scoop on what we’ve discussed today.

So before I wrap up, here’s the Cliffs Notes version.

First, we’re continuing to execute on our core strategy: invest the most significant resources in the most serious cases; hold individuals accountable; and pursue tough penalties for repeat offenders.

Second, we’re using carrots and sticks to encourage companies to step up and own up and report misconduct to the government. With a first-in-the-door strategy, we’re making clear that neither companies nor individuals can afford to sit on evidence of wrongdoing.

Third, we’re designing our own whistleblower rewards program, as part of our broader effort to fill gaps and innovate in this space. Stay tuned.

And finally, we’re applying DOJ tools to new, disruptive technologies — like addressing the rise of AI through our existing sentencing guidelines and corporate enforcement programs.

I hope I’ve given you a clear picture of our enforcement priorities and what to expect in the coming months. And I trust I’ve also given you plenty of fodder for discussion in the days to come. 

Every day, we’re working to ensure the Department of Justice lives up to its promise for the American people.

Whether we are deploying old school methods like flipping cooperators or responding to the newest game-changing technology, the women and men of the Justice Department will continue to be unrelenting in our work to enforce the laws that protect jobs, guard savings, and maintain faith in our economic system.

Thank you for having me today and thank you for being here.

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How Fraudsters Break Into Social Security Accounts and Steal Benefits

Thousands of people receiving Social Security benefits have had their money diverted into criminal accounts. Here’s what to know.

A building in the distance with a shadowed figure walking nearby.

By Tara Siegel Bernard

For the past two decades, Liz Birenbaum’s 88-year-old mother, Marge, has received her Social Security check on the second Wednesday of each month. It’s her sole source of income, which pays for her room at a long-term care center, where she landed last October after having a stroke.

When the deposit didn’t arrive in January, they logged into Marge’s Social Security account , where they found some startling clues: the last four digits of a bank account number that didn’t match her own, at a bank they didn’t recognize.

“Someone had gotten in,” said Ms. Birenbaum, of Chappaqua, N.Y. “Then I hit a panic button.”

It quickly became evident that a fraudster had redirected the $2,452 benefit to an unknown Citibank account. Marge, who lives in Minnesota, had never banked there. (Ms. Birenbaum requested to refer to her mother by her first name only to protect her from future fraud.)

Ms. Birenbaum immediately started making calls to set things right. When she finally connected with a Social Security representative from a local office in a Bloomington, Minn., the rep casually mentioned that this happens “all the time.”

“I was stunned,” Ms. Birenbaum said.

Social Security -related scams, overall, are pervasive — fraudsters pose as employees to try to extract both money and valuable identifying details from people in a variety of evolving schemes . But this particular fraud — where criminals use stolen personal information to break into online Social Security accounts or create new ones, and divert benefits elsewhere — has plagued people for more than a decade .

Once fraudsters gain access to an individual’s online Social Security account, they can change a beneficiary’s address and direct deposit information, or request replacement cards.

Nearly everyone is a potential target. The Social Security Administration sends checks to more than 70 million beneficiaries, including retirees and disabled people, totaling nearly $120 billion every month. An estimated 2,000 beneficiaries had their direct deposits redirected last year, according to anti-fraud officials at the Social Security Administration.

It can be a lucrative fraud, and a devastating benefit to lose. An estimated $33.5 million in benefits — intended for nearly 21,000 beneficiaries — were redirected in a five-year period ending in May 2018, according to the most recent audit from the Office of the Inspector General, an independent group responsible for overseeing investigations and audits at the agency. Another $23.9 million in fraudulent redirects were prevented before they happened over the same time period.

“Fraudsters were able to obtain sufficient information about a true beneficiary to convince the Social Security Administration that they were that beneficiary,” said Jeffrey Brown, a deputy assistant inspector general at the Office of the Inspector General , who analyzed the issue in 2019 . “Once they were in the front door, they were able to change their direct deposits.”

Social Security-related scams spiked during the pandemic, according to O.I.G. officials, when Social Security offices were closed to the public, forcing people to rely on the agency’s online services.

The Federal Trade Commission, which collects self-reported complaints from consumers, said more than 7,600 people reported that their benefits had been diverted from 2019 through the end of 2023, with an uptick in activity last year.

“A lot of consumers are letting us know they found out that their direct deposit was redirected to another account or a fraudulent account,” said Maria Mayo, associate director of the F.T.C.’s division of consumer response and operations. “A lot of times they are saying they got an impostor call and they provided their information, and they believe that is how that information was used to redirect the benefit.”

In another twist, there were roughly 6,100 fraudulent claims last year, or 0.3 percent of all web-initiated retirement claims, that involved criminals who filed for benefits on the earnings records of Americans who had reached retirement age, but had not yet claimed benefits, anti-fraud officials at Social Security said.

Criminals collect the personal identifying information they need in any number of ways, which they later use to break into government accounts or create fraudulent ones. You need a Social Security number to establish an online account with the agency, but you don’t need the entire nine-digits to crack open an existing one.

Amy Nofziger, director of fraud victim support at AARP Fraud Watch Network, recently scanned through her database of cases and came across a handful of victims who had a third-party snag their Social Security number within the past six months. One unsuspecting person gave it to an impostor promising insurance subsidies. Another criminal posed as a representative of the victim’s bank. In yet another case, the fraudster pretended to be calling from a credit bureau to verify the victim’s Social Security number.

Sometimes identity thieves claim they’re calling from a doctor’s office, and in other instances they’re able to compromise a person’s device and collect valuable information, such as passwords or other personal details saved.

When gathering various pieces of a person’s identity, fraudsters may also turn to marketplaces on the dark web, where much personal identifying information — often stolen through security breaches — is for sale.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a research group focused on data governance and protection, said people living in medical or assisted living facilities were also often vulnerable to these crimes. “It is among the ugliest forms of identity theft,” she added.

Just months before Marge’s benefits were redirected, the O.I.G. issued a report that said the administration’s portal, called my Social Security, did not fully comply with federal requirements for identity verification: It said it didn’t go far enough to verify and validate new registrants’ identities, in all cases. And once an account is established through one of two identity verification portals , which is required to access the my Social Security account, the agency does not require users to reverify their identities using strong enough proof (such as presenting a driver’s license along with, say, a selfie).

This wasn’t the first time the independent investigators found deficiencies, which date back to the introduction of the my Social Security portal in 2012. The Office of the Inspector General recommended bolstering its digital identity verification process in 2016, and while the agency has made several improvements, O.I.G. officials said it still wasn’t fully compliant when it released its latest audit in 2023.

The Social Security Administration said it had carried out several of the office’s recommendations since the portal was introduced, including the addition of a fraud analysis team for investigations. The agency has also updated its identity verification process to respond to emerging threats, it said, and plans further updates.

“Our office conducts ongoing analytics of online transactions and we look for anomalous behavior, and if we see new characteristics, we flag those and implement additional controls to stop any behavior that is potentially fraudulent,” said Joe Lopez, assistant deputy commissioner for analytics, review and oversight at Social Security.

“The environment is always developing,” he added, “and we modify our models as needed.”

The Social Security Administration sends notices to beneficiaries through the mail asking them to contact the agency if they didn’t authorize a recent change to their direct deposit information, which has thwarted millions of dollars in benefits from being diverted and lost, O.I.G. officials said. It is also possible to block changes to the accounts.

The issue would have been impossible for someone like Marge to rectify on her own. It was challenging enough for Ms. Birenbaum, a marketing consultant, and her brother, based near their mother in a Minneapolis suburb, who worked together to recover the benefits and secure Marge’s account.

Ms. Birenbaum — who reported the crime to the O.I.G. and the F.B.I. and alerted her state and federal representatives — once spent two and a half hours on hold with the Social Security Administration before connecting with a regional case worker. The rep was able to see that her mother’s direct deposit information had been altered in early December, the month before the benefits vanished.

Ms. Birenbaum’s brother visited their mother’s local Social Security office and became Marge’s “ representative payee ,” which allows him to handle her affairs (Social Security does not accept powers of attorney). They had to find ways to make the correction without bringing Marge to the office, which Ms. Birenbaum said would have been a “herculean task.”

Marge received the missing money on March 1, about a month and a half after they discovered the problem.

“For her, it ended on a happy note,” Ms. Birenbaum said, “but for many, who don’t have advocates pushing every day, cybercriminals win.”

How to Protect Yourself From Social Security Fraud

Consider locking down your accounts. Create a my Social Security account , but then add an e-services block , a feature that prevents anyone, including you, from seeing or changing your personal information online. You will need to contact your local office to remove it.

Another feature, a direct deposit fraud prevention block, stops anyone from enrolling in direct deposit, or changing your address or direct deposit information through your online account or a financial institution. You must contact a local office to make any changes or to remove the block.

Don’t trust, also verify. If your phone’s caller identification says “Social Security Administration,” don’t trust it — the number may be spoofed and the agency only calls beneficiaries in limited situations. Call back the agency through its mainline 1-800-772-1213 or call a local site using its office locator .

Report suspected scams and fraud to the Office of Inspector General’s website or call 1-800-269-0271.

Contact the Federal Trade Commission if you suspect someone has used your personal information, either through its website or calling 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338).

Review the Social Security Administration’s resource page on how to spot scams.

An earlier version of this article misstated the amount of money the Social Security Administration sends to beneficiaries every month. It is nearly $120 billion, not nearly $120 million.

How we handle corrections

Tara Siegel Bernard writes about personal finance, from saving for college to paying for retirement and everything in between. More about Tara Siegel Bernard

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