Impact of Computers on Society 5. More about Freedom of Speech

Two quotes  The state must not reduce the adult population of Michigan to reading only what is fit for children. – Felix Frankfurter, US Supreme Court Justice  Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection – Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr., striking down the Child Online Protection Act on March 22, 2007

Filters  Too broad (see list on p. 205!)  Easily thwarted  Various strategies Key words Lists of banned sites Employees who rate sites for sex, violence, etc.  Imagine a filter incorporated into a search engine, such as Google… Perhaps there should be special search engines for child use?

Freedom of Speech in the US  Knowledge is liberty’s greatest ally – David F. Nolan Transistor radios helped bring about the Shah’s downfall  Censorship in other nations China The Taliban North Korea Singapore  Might one nation impose its censorship standards on others? This works both ways!

What Do You Think?  Probably offensive, but clearly protected: Casa d’ IceCasa d’ Ice  Should the Net allow… Bomb-making instructions Gun sales Liquor sales Sales of prescription medicines Online investments Legal advice Hate speech?

Should We Permit…?  Anonymous aka Spam (with apologies to Hormel, Inc.)? Limit the number of outbound messages from any one account? Charge for messages? Is your ISP required to deliver spam? The common carrier argument – the phone company cannot choose which calls to put through

Who Is Responsible?  When something goes wrong? Teenagers build a bomb  When something is defective? The camera you ordered doesn’t work  When illegal action is encouraged A web site calls for the execution of an unpopular figure (Salman Rushdie?)Salman Rushdie

An Exercise  Assume every Hood student is given 10 meg of space on the college computer system for a personal web site.  Write the guidelines for what is and is not acceptable.  Be sure to take into account, images, and audio.  Who will be responsible for enforcement?