somebodyhere

Nancy L. recently asked if it's likely that the Federal Government will shut down the internet during a Zombie outbreak. Her theory being that in order to avoid mass panic, a complete online communication blackout would be put in place.

There certainly are precedents for the government controlling - or cutting off - the flow of information to the public. Two such examples come to mind:

Zombie Internet1) The practice of filming coffins returning from battle during the Vietnam War was a catalyst for the growing protest movement that ultimate lead to the conflict's end. Since then, press access to soldiers returning from battle has been severely reduced, or blocked altogether.

2) After Upton Sinclair's scathing 1906 novel, The Jungle, caused a nationwide stir about the deplorable state of the meat packing industry, food processors have successfully lobbied the government for regulations that block the public from gaining access to their plants.

To be clear, I am not taking a political side on either of these issues. I am simply stating the undeniable fact that - right or wrong - the government controls the flow of information across multiple channels on a daily basis.

So, will the internet be shut down when the dead walk the earth? Who knows. But my gut feeling is that if it's already deemed in the national interest to discourage citizens from knowing what they eat and how they die, don't be surprised if the end of the world is signaled by a failed connection notice on your home computer.

What do you think?