--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the Internet, among its many, many…" description: "\"“the Internet, among its many, many virtues, is also a weapon of mass destruction.”\" — Ted Koppel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png" --- # the Internet, among its many, many virtues, is also a… ![“the Internet, among its many, many virtues, is also a weapon of mass destruction.” quote by Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png) > ““the Internet, among its many, many virtues, is also a weapon of mass destruction.”” [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The internet, despite its benefits, can also be used as a destructive weapon. **In simple terms:** Internet can be harmful. Key Takeaway Recognize and mitigate digital threats. Themes technology ethics danger Mood cautious critical Type analytical warning When to use this quote - cybersecurity - policy making - public discourse Key Concepts information warfare mass impact Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can reduce online harm? - How balance innovation with security? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on danger may overlook positive uses. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Internet Virtues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet-virtues-4069658/) [Mass destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-destruction/) [Weapon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapon/) [Weapon Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapon-mass-400507/) ## Related quotes > [“there was no way that weapon of mass destruction was going to work its way inside my body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-crownover/there-was-no-way-that-weapon-of-mass-destruction-was-going-to-work/) [Jay Crownover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-crownover/) > [The biggest weapon of mass destruction in history is the AK-47, not Iranian nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-lawson/the-biggest-weapon-of-mass-destruction-in-history-is-the-ak-47-not/) [Guy Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-lawson/) > [Fear is a weapon of mass destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-kucinich/fear-is-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction/) [Dennis Kucinich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-kucinich/) > [Well, the next attack in the United States will be larger than 9/11. And there's no doubt that if they have a weapon of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scheuer/well-the-next-attack-in-the-united-states-will-be-larger-than-9-11/) [Michael Scheuer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scheuer/) > [On the justification for the war, it wasn't related to finding any particular weapon of mass destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-harper/on-the-justification-for-the-war-it-wasn-t-related-to-finding-any/) [Stephen Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-harper/) > [Television is a weapon of mass distractrion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-gelbart/television-is-a-weapon-of-mass-distractrion/) [Larry Gelbart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-gelbart/) > [“Love is the weapon of mass illumination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teza-lord/love-is-the-weapon-of-mass-illumination/) [teZa Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teza-lord/) > [I'm the ultimate Weapon Of Mass Distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-the-ultimate-weapon-of-mass-distraction/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we could bottle your luck, we'd have a weapon of mass destruction on our hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/if-we-could-bottle-your-luck-we-d-have-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-byrd/the-last-un-weapons-inspectors-left-iraq-in-october-of-1998-we-are/) [Robert Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-byrd/) > [Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/free-nations-don-t-develop-weapons-of-mass-destruction/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva/hunger-is-actually-the-worst-weapon-of-mass-destruction-it-claims/) [Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva/) > [Iraq does pose a serious threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize an international coalition to eliminate his access…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/iraq-does-pose-a-serious-threat-to-the-stability-of-the-persian-gulf/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [I come to this debate, Mr. Speaker, as one at the end of 10 years in office on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pelosi/i-come-to-this-debate-mr-speaker-as-one-at-the-end-of-10-years-in/) [Nancy Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pelosi/) > [I have absolutely no doubt at all that we will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction programmes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/i-have-absolutely-no-doubt-at-all-that-we-will-find-evidence-of/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) ## More by Ted Koppel > [“Nobody’s in charge there, nobody has responsibility, nor can anybody require that they do work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/nobody-s-in-charge-there-nobody-has-responsibility-nor-can-anybody/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [Would anyone else like to say anything nice about women?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/would-anyone-else-like-to-say-anything-nice-about-women/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“smaller companies with lean profit margins are simply not inclined to spend a great deal on cybersecurity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/smaller-companies-with-lean-profit-margins-are-simply-not-inclined-to/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“has to be connected to the company’s billing department, which in turn needs to be connected to whatever department actually conveys electricity to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/has-to-be-connected-to-the-company-s-billing-department-which-in-turn/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“I think that within six months, if things weren’t straightened out adequately to have something besides anarchy, somebody’s going to show up on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/i-think-that-within-six-months-if-things-weren-t-straightened-out/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“the extreme vulnerability of SCADA systems to cyber sabotage was first demonstrated, and dramatically so, during the administration of George W. Bush.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-extreme-vulnerability-of-scada-systems-to-cyber-sabotage-was/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“The August 2003 blackout was a wake-up call for both industry and government regulators.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-august-2003-blackout-was-a-wake-up-call-for-both-industry-and/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“The world is locked into a state of cyber dependency”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-world-is-locked-into-a-state-of-cyber-dependency/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“consumer deals directly only with the local company that delivers the electricity on that final leg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/consumer-deals-directly-only-with-the-local-company-that-delivers-the/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“We remain largely oblivious to the potential catastrophe of a well-targeted cyberattack.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/we-remain-largely-oblivious-to-the-potential-catastrophe-of-a-well/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“the Internet is also giving rise to “filter bubbles” that decrease users’ exposure to conflicting viewpoints and reinforce their own ideological frames.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-internet-is-also-giving-rise-to-filter-bubbles-that-decrease/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“(Several nation-states, most prominently the Russians and the Chinese, have already spent years conducting just such reconnaissance.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/several-nation-states-most-prominently-the-russians-and-the-chinese/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“the only institution with real power to decide how the power industry is protected is the power industry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-only-institution-with-real-power-to-decide-how-the-power-industry/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“What about independent actors using cyberattacks to knock out one of our power grids? Are we at that point yet? “Simple answer,” said Schmidt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/what-about-independent-actors-using-cyberattacks-to-knock-out-one-of/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [“it took on average 279 days before companies that had been breached came to realize it or were told by someone else. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/it-took-on-average-279-days-before-companies-that-had-been-breached/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) [Explore all 139 Ted Koppel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) [Atiq Rahimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atiq-rahimi/) [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the Internet, among its many, many virtues, is also a weapon of mass destruction.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ted Koppel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues-is-also-a-weapon-of-mass/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destruction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues-is-also-a-weapon-of-mass/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1eb/ted-koppel-3111_destruction_the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues_470649.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the Internet, among its many, many virtues, is also a weapon of mass destruction.” — Ted Koppel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ted Koppel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“the Internet, among its many, many...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues-is-also-a-weapon-of-mass/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/the-internet-among-its-many-many-virtues-is-also-a-weapon-of-mass/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```