FREEDOM OF SPEECH
ON THE INTERNET
BY: RAYMOND , NIKHIL, JAY, MARIO, MADHU
Video Jay Rockefeller - Prelude To Internet Kill
Switch
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb0E66BSD9I&feature=r
esults_main&playnext=1&list=PL35148052DC2198B4
What Companies Can Do
 Global issues
 Censorship is a problem in many countries
 Resistance – e.g. Google refused services in China
unless China stopped censoring searches
• Pope handout, page 7
• http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-13/tech/google.china.analysis_1_google-network-thousands-of-search-terms-searchengine?_s=PM:TECH
What Companies Can Do
 Make it clear that every action taken on a given site is
monitored – would cause people to be more cautious
What Companies Can Do
 Facebook is allowing hateful/racist comments
 The First Amendment protects these statements
 While Facebook’s rules prohibit these posts, they’re
not enforced
• http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/09/report-facebook-a-haven-for-ha.html
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/13/facebook-holocaust-denialgroups
What Companies Can Do
• If private companies don’t regulate freedom of
speech, then the government would have to step in,
and that has widespread opposition
• http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/09/report-facebook-a-haven-for-ha.html
What constitutes being “responsible” on
the internet?
 Some examples of being
responsible:
1. Not uploading inappropriate
content
2. Not spreading viruses
3. Not stealing other people’s
information and identity
 Two forms of user responsibility:
1. Personal responsibility
2. Mandated responsibility
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5542230081_c0e07657b3.jpg
federal developments regarding
cybersecurity
 President Obama proposed a national
cybersecurity education program
 He also proposed increased penalties for
computer criminals
 Cybersecurity is key in federal
government policy
http://www.pcworld.com/article/165773/obamas_cybersecurity_initiative_wins_praise.html;
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/12/fact-sheet-cybersecurity-legislative-proposal;
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62861.html;
http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/wharton-aerospace-defense-report/images/cyber300_2.jpg
Personal developments regarding
security
 Users have to be more aware of the
websites they are visiting:
 Do business with credible
companies
 Avoid submitting credit card
information online
 Avoid using debit cards for online
purchases
 Limit exposure of private
information
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-013.html;
http://www.fantasticplaces.net/products/designs/Personal_Responsibility.jpg
Religious developments regarding
cybersecurity
 [The Church seeks] “honest and
respectful dialogue with those
responsible for … communications”
 Fundamental fact of the Church
about Internet responsibility:
“Young people in particular need to
be taught … ‘to be good Christians’
… So, young people will be true
citizens of that age of social
communications which has already
begun”
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pcc
s_doc_20020228_church-internet_en.html#_ftn11;
http://slangcath.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/the-digital-revolution-and-thechurch.jpg
Worldwide Censorship
 Blue=no censorship
 Yellow=some censorship
 Red= countries under surveillance from reporters
without borders.
 Black-most heavily censored nations.
(legend wording found on Wikipedia)
Reporters without borders http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_blackholes.svg )
Worldwide Censorship
www.ifap.ru/library/book495.pdf )
US Statistics
 Percentage of cyberbullying victims among high
school students in the US: 5.7%-18.3%.
 Percent of cyberbullies: 9.1%-23.1%
http://www.cyberbullying.us/cyberbullying_and_suicide_research_fact_sheet.pdf
Chinese Statistics
 Percentage of cyberbullying victims among high
school students in China: 17.8%.
 Percent of cyberbullies: 32.1%
http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/28850-Cyberbullying-worrying-trend-new-p
Conclusions
 Both these studies were conducted over approximately
2000 teenage students.
 The conclusion drawn is that government censorship may
not be the solution.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Exceptions to the First Amendment
Speech that is likely to lead to imminent
lawless action may be prohibited.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Exceptions to the First Amendment
"Fighting words" -- i.e., words so
insulting that people are likely to fight
back -- may be prohibited.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Exceptions to the First Amendment
Obscenity -- i.e., erotic expression, grossly or
patently offensive to an average person -- may
be prohibited.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Exceptions to the First Amendment
Child pornography may be banned whether
or not it is legally obscene and whether or
not it has serious artistic or social value.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Exceptions to the First Amendment
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Defamatory statements may be prohibited.
Exceptions to the First Amendment
Commercial Speech may be banned only if it
is misleading, pertains to illegal products
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Threats
When does speech
become a threat? When
does a communication
over the Internet inflict -or threaten to inflict -sufficient damage to be
considered illegal?
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Jake Baker” Case
Abraham Jacob Alkhabaz fabricated a story
of how he tortured, abused, and killed a
young woman, who was given the name a
classmate.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Jake Baker” Case
Jake corresponded with another person over
the internet to fabricate plans for kidnapping
and torturing another of his classmates
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Jake Baker” Case
DECISION?
ILLEGAL
Anybody implying any threat to kidnap or to
injure a person, shall be fined or imprisoned not
more than five years
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Nuremberg Files” Case
The American Coalition of Life Activists (ACLA),
an anti-abortion group, created a poster
featuring a group of doctors dubbed “the Dirty
Dozen” who performed abortions.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Nuremberg Files” Case
An expanded list of abortion providers, now
dubbed the "Nuremberg files," was posted on the
Internet with the home addresses of the doctors
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Nuremberg Files” Case
The list was color-coded as follows:
1) People who had been murdered were crossed out
2) People who had been wounded were printed in grey
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Nuremberg Files” Case
The doctors named and described on the list
feared for their lives. They believed that the ACLA
was implicitly encouraging their being targeted.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
“Nuremberg Files” Case
DECISION?
LEGAL
Although there were violent tinges to the ACLA’s
methods, it was ruled that there was no explicit
threat to kidnap or injure.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property MAY NOT be
republished via the internet without the
consent of the original author.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Speech/
Implications of anonymity
“Suppose I receive an anonymous note
asserting that I have been betrayed by a
friend. I will not know what to make of it – is
it a joke, a slander, a warning, a test? “
http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/03/on-internet-slander-and-irresponsibility/