'The current internet expansion has instilled a different set of cultural values which are often in…

Question

'The current internet expansion has instilled a different set of cultural values which are often in conflict with traditional values.' Discuss.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Internet expansion spreads values of individual autonomy, openness, self-display and instant gratification that often clash with traditional deference, privacy and restraint, though it also revives tradition and corrects regressive custom. With 886 million users (IAMAI-Kantar, 2024) the shift is mass-scale, and the ethical course is to filter both through constitutional morality.

**Introduction**

With 886 million active internet users (IAMAI-Kantar, 2024), the internet has become a second agent of socialisation beside the family. Its values of openness and individual choice often clash with tradition, but not always.

**Where Internet Values Clash With Tradition**

SKETCH: comparison | Two Value Systems
a: Traditional
b: Internet-borne
- Deference to elders :: Questioning authority
- Family first :: Individual autonomy
- Privacy, modesty :: Self-display, virality
- Patience, rootedness :: Instant gratification
- Local identity :: Global consumer culture

1. **Authority and family**: Advice once taken from elders now comes from influencers and search engines, weakening **Intergenerational Value Transmission** and sparking family conflict over partners met through apps.
2. **Privacy versus exposure**: A culture of likes rewards oversharing where tradition prized discretion; Puttaswamy (2017) recognised informational privacy as a fundamental right.
3. **Gratification and civility**: Short videos and gaming reward impulse over restraint, which is why India banned real-money online games under the Online Gaming Act 2025, while anonymous trolling erodes civility.

**Where Digital and Traditional Values Converge**

1. **Technology carrying tradition**: The internet has revived folk music, regional languages and crafts, showing that **Value Pluralism**, the coexistence of legitimate value systems, is possible.
2. **Correcting regressive custom**: #MeToo (2018) broke the silence on harassment, so some conflicts advance constitutional dignity over custom.
3. **Tradition shaping access**: Women remain 30% less likely than men to use mobile internet (GSMA, 2024), often because family rules restrict phones.

**Conclusion**

The internet questions tradition where tradition denied dignity and erodes it where it replaces restraint with impulse. The ethical course is to filter both through liberty, equality and fraternity, keeping windows open to all cultures, as Gandhi said, without being blown off one's feet.

'The current internet expansion has instilled a different set of cultural values which are often in conflict with traditional values.' Discuss.

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