| |
Home>
Science & Math> Table
of Contents>
| Freedom
of Speech on the Internet
Anne
Fiedler, Ph.D.
Development Team
Reviewed 1/08
|
 |
Introduction
In
the fast changing world of communication technology, today’s
teenagers are being bombarded by new tools for spreading information
and opinions that were not even imagined when the First Amendment
was ratified in 1791. Today, text messaging, chat rooms, blogs,
and e-zines spew out voluminous amounts of information, much inaccurate,
some slanderous. Added to this is the huge popularity of social-networking
resulting in over 34 million members on MySpace most of which
are adolescents, teenagers, and young adults. Many ethical questions
arise from this phenomenon.
View
More
|
|
Key
Concepts and Vocabulary
•
First Amendment
• Freedom of Speech
• Accountability
• Communications Decency Act of 1996
• Censorship
View
More
|
|
Background
for for
Teachers
The First Amendment right
of freedom of speech extends to the Internet. However, the First
Amendment originally was only meant to prohibit direct government
censorship. This definition has been expanded by the courts over
the years, but, freedom of speech does not give a person the right
to say anything that they want about a person. Another set of laws
deals with defamation (The expression of injurious, malicious statements
about someone). When these statements are published, either in hard
copy or on the Internet, this is known as libel. To be considered
libel by the courts, a statement must be provably false; further,
if it is related to a political statement, most courts hold that
the statement must involve the intent of “actual malice.”
The following case of A.B. v. State of Indiana is an example of
how the protection of freedom of speech on the Internet might be
viewed by the courts.
View
More
|
|
Print
/ Full View of Curriculum
Click here to have a complete continous scrolling version of this
curriculum for more efficient reading and printing.
|
|
|
