the Double Edged Sword of Freedom

The internet has truly enhanced our lives, from the sheer convenience it has brought to our everyday lives to the ability to instantaneously share data anywhere in the world which has become invaluable in scientific and medical research.

However, one of the biggest assets from internet is also one of its greatest detractions, communities. You can find groups of like minded people to discuss virtually anything at all. You can share different interpretations of music or films, talk about what you did or didn't like about certain shows or characters, share and discuss political views and ideals, it goes on and on, the list is basically infinite.
The issue, however, arises from this aspect of the internet working, perhaps, too well. There are people in the world who do not fit into the social norms, we find these people strange, offensive, depraved and in some cases just plain evil. These people are, generally, the minority in their physical environments/communities, but thanks to the internet's amazing ability to connect us all, these people can get together and shake off their previous feelings of isolation.
There are incredibly elaborate communities set up for antisocial behaviours such as racism, sexism, sexual deviancy, anarchy and violent crime. Now that these people can come together they develop a pack mentality misleading them to feel normalized and justified in having these beliefs.
Without getting into the issue of what is "evil" and who should get to define it, these characteristics do not mesh with the ideals of our current society and as such they should, at the very least, not be encouraged.

The internet has also become an incredible outlet for creativity, giving people a platform from which to launch a career or just to share with people for the sake of it, people create and share software, music, art, visual media, written works of both fictional and non fictional subjects and they can do so for free to an audience size that would otherwise be impossible.
However,  given the inherent freedom associated with the internet, we are becoming desensitized to certain things, people have uploaded horrifying things over the years, which many of us have seen at one point or another, usually by no fault of our own and we have adapted to this as though it was just another natural hazard.
There are two sides to this argument, one being that desensitization actually strengthens us, the other side being that desensitization robs us of our humanity.

Ultimately, the pros far out way the cons of the internet. It is hard to imagine what the world would be like without it, which is fairly significant given the comparatively short time that it has existed.