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Issue: Online Access: Free Speech and Government Censorship
While some governments guarantee the right to view, publish,
and broadcast information on the Internet, many have laws and
regulations that censor Internet free speech. Media coverage
of noteworthy or
controversial
examples of governmental censorship of Internet users appears
in the
Media Coverage section below. Information
about Organizations and Related Publications
appears below.
For information on issues related to governmental Internet blocking
requirements, see the
blocking software section.
Media Coverage
-
Ashcroft's Hard Line on Hardcore
-
Attorney General John Ashcroft has suggested to Congress that online porn site operators be arrested,
Wired News, June 9, 2001
Related media coverage:
cluebot.com,
June 8, 2001
-
Nuke Agency Evicts Greenpeace From Web Site
-
Greenpeace has lost the domain name "cogema.org" after a French nuclear agency of the same name sued, citing cybersquatting allegations,
Yahoo! News, June 8, 2001
-
Turkey Passes Law Extending Press Controls to Internet
-
The Turkish parliament has passed a law that subjects the
Internet to the same restrictions as print media,
Wired News, June 7, 2001
Related media coverage:
Salon,
June 7, 2001
-
South Dakota: Fire, Don't Filter
-
The State Government of South Dakota has chosen to treat their employees like adults and fire
them, as opposed to installing Internet blocking software, when they use work computers for errant Net activities,
Wired News, June 7, 2001
-
Cyber Law Journal: Controversial Ruling on Library Filters
-
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a preliminary finding suggesting
that librarians at the Minneapolis Public Library may have been subjected to a hostile work environment due to viewing of porn at patron computers,
New York Times, June 1, 2001 (Free registration required to view article)
-
Court: OK to Encourage Abortion Threat
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A federal appeals court threw out a record $109 million verdict against anti-abortion rights activists today, ruling that a
website and wanted posters branding abortion doctors "baby butchers" and criminals is protected by the First Amendment,
Associated Press, March 28, 2001
Related materials:
Abortion Web Site Verdict Appealed, Associated Press, September 12, 2000,
Court case,
Website in question,
Background
-
Wiretapping on Personal Computers on Rapid Rise
-
Wiretappings by investigative agencies into PC (personal computer)
communications networks, including the Internet, are
rapidly increasing, a government tally showed yesterday,
Korea Herald, March 28, 2001
-
Lawsuits Slam Net Filtering Efforts
-
The American Civil Liberties Union and American Library Association
filed separate suits Tuesday in a federal district court in Philadelphia
challenging a new law that requires federally funded schools and libraries
to install software that blocks "objectionable" online materials,
CNET News, March 20, 2001
Related media coverage:
Libraries Spearhead Attack on Cyber-Porn Law,
Reuters
Librarians Contest Law Requiring Net Filters,
Mercury News,
Libraries: Filter Out Filters,
Wired,
Library Smut Snit Heats Up,
Wired,
Diverse Coalition Sues To Overturn Web-Filtering Law,
Newsbytes,
Daily E-Mail Alert, Tech Law Journal,
Censoring the Libraries, San Francisco Chronicle,
ALA Lawsuit Poll, Excite,
March 19-23, 2001
-
German Prosecutors Drop Yahoo! "Mein Kampf" Probe
-
German authorities
said on Wednesday they planned no legal action against Internet
portal Yahoo! Inc. over online auctions of copies of
Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" book, which is banned in Germany,
Reuters, March 21, 2001
Related media coverage:
USA Today, March 23, 2001
-
ACLU Wins $10,000 in Damages For High School Student In Web Parody Case
-
A former high school student who was suspended for creating a parody
on the Internet is getting damages from the school district that wrongfully
punished him,
ACLU,
March 20, 2001
-
Expressions of Liberty
-
This Montreal-based publication interviewed OPG Executive
Director Will Doherty about his views on Internet free speech,
Voir (in French),
March 15, 2001
-
Kathleen R. v. City of Livermore
-
A parent of a child who uses Internet access computers at a public library seeks to compel the library
to install blocking software on children's computers within the library; the parent lost in the trial
court, appealed, and lost again in the California Court of Appeal,
Techlaw Journal, March 6, 2001
-
Should the Government Require Filtering?
-
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have raised that
question regarding the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA),
which became law in December 2000. The act is expected to face a court challenge,
Consumer Reports, March 2001
-
Rwanda Tribunal Wants to Constrain Web Sites
-
The United Nations tribunal for Rwanda said Wednesday that it had
appealed for U.S. legal help to curb potentially defamatory Internet
sites maintained for two men on trial for genocide,
Reuters,
February 28, 2001
-
Chinese Webmaster on Trial for 'Subversion'
-
A webmaster who published articles on human rights will be tried at an open court in
Chengdu, Sichuan province on Tuesday. The New York -based Human Rights Watch is
urging diplomats in Beijing to send observers to the trial,
BBC News, February 9, 2001
-
Ruling on Nazi Memorabilia Sparks Legal Debate
-
A ruling by a Paris judge ordering Yahoo
Inc. to block French citizens from
auctions of Nazi artifacts on the company's
English-language Web site has sparked a
passionate debate among legal experts,
New York Times, November 24, 2000
-
All About Aussie Online Laws
-
With just over three weeks to go before new Internet censorship regulations
go into effect here, confusion and controversy continue to reign and
the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) -- the national body
charged with implementing the law -- has expanded its Web site
to provide ISPs and content hosts information about their new responsibilities,
Wired News, December 8, 1999
Organizations and Related Publications
-
ACLU and ALA File Challenges to Library Internet Censorship In Case Fast-Tracked for Supreme Court Review
-
Acting on behalf of public libraries, library patrons and website authors
nationwide, the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Library Association
filed separate legal
challenges to a federal law that forces libraries to censor constitutionally protected
speech online,
ACLU and ALA, March 20, 2001
Related media releases:
Family Research Council
defends CHIPA.
-
Livermore, CA Lawsuit
-
A California Court of Appeal upheld this anti-Internet blocking decision: "In this case
we hold that a city is not subject to suit for damages or an
injunction for offering unrestricted access to the Internet through computers at a public library",
Censorware.net, March 6, 2001
The entire opinion of the court
-
New School Online University
-
Online university offering range of classes in media related
subjects and online conferences, such as current: "Censorship and Public Policy"
(available by clicking on popup window and free registration), March 2001
-
Send IRS Comments on Proposal to Regulate Nonprofit Web Activities
-
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is initiating regulation on electronic communications by nonprofit
organizations including making monitoring who nonprofit
organizations link to from their web sites and constituting links as possible
lobbying violations, so please send in your comments by
the deadline of February 13, 2001
-
Guidelines and Considerations for Developing a Public Library Internet Use Policy
-
Includes information on intellectual freedom, the First Amendment to the
US Constitution, pornography, obscenity, Internet filtering software,
Internet use policies, and related court rulings,
American Library Association,
updated November 2000
-
GayLebanon.com Case Causes Stir
-
Lebanese government charges ISP owner and human rights organizer with
defaming the nation even though they had no role in hosting a
GayLebanon.com web site, Beirut Daily Star, September 25, 2000
-
China and the Net
-
An excellent collection of resources on Internet censorship efforts
of the Chinese government, Digital Freedom Network, August 24, 2000
-
Motivating a Human Rights Perspective on Access to Cyberspace: The Human Right to Communicate
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William McIver offers an exploration of how human rights and access to cyberspace intersect, CPSR Newsletter, Summer 2000
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