Lecture 5 Freedom of Expression

Abaidoo Emmanuel
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
• QUOTE
• If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we
despise, we don’t believe in it at all.
• —Avram Noam Chomsky, American linguist and activist

 According to a survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen

and Unplanned Pregnancy, one in five teenagers have engaged in
sexting, including 22 percent of teen girls, 18 percent of teen
boys, and 11 percent of young teen girls aged 13 to 16.
Increasingly, teens are suffering the consequences of this new
fad.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• DEFINITIONS
• Freedom: The condition of being free; the power to act, speak or
think without externally imposed restraints
• Tramp-A person who engages freely in promiscuous sex
• Felony-A serious crime (such as murder or arson)
• Misdemeanor-A crime less serious than a felony
• Sexting—sending sexual messages, nude or seminude photos, or
sexually explicit videos over a cell phone
• Blackmail-Exert pressure on someone through threat. Or (crime)
obtained through threats
• Defamation: Making either an oral or a written statement of
alleged fact that is false and that harms another person.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• DEFINITIONS…
• Perjury- Criminal offense of making false statements under oath
• Fraud- Intentional deception resulting in injury to another person
or something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to
gain an advantage
• obscene speech –speeches that are offensive to the mind,
designed to incite indecency or lust
• Prurient- Characterized by lust, lustful
• Patently- Unmistakably; visibly clear; in an evident manner
• Blogging- To read, write, or edit a shared on-line journal
• Pedophiles- An adult who is sexually attracted to children
• Libel- (law) a false and malicious publication printed for the
purpose of defaming a living person
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CASE STUDIES
a) Jessie Logan was a good kid—lively, artistic, and fun. But in her last
year at Sycamore High School, she made a terrible mistake. She
used her cell phone to take nude photos of herself and then sent
them to her boyfriend. After the couple broke up, Jessie’s ex-
boyfriend forwarded the photos to several other teenage girls;
eventually, the pictures were sent to hundreds of teens in the
Cincinnati area. Classmates, and even kids she did not know, started
teasing her. They called her a tramp and worse; some even threw
things at her. Instead of attending classes, she began sleeping in her
car in the school parking lot or hiding in the bathroom, skipping
classes to avoid further embarrassment. She stopped interacting
with her friends, and her grades dropped. Finally, in the summer of
2008, Jessie was so full of despair that she hung herself.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CASE STUDIES
a) Jessie Logan was a good kid…
But were Jessie’s ex-boyfriend’s actions legal? Certainly, if they
involved exposing underage children to the nude photos, the ex-
boyfriend would have been violating laws protecting children from
exploitation and pornography. To date, however, the ex-boyfriend
and other students who distributed the photos have not been
arrested or charged with any crime.
Authorities, however, are starting to come down hard on teens
under the age of 18 who engage in sexting:
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CASE STUDIES
b) Seventeen-year-old Alex Phillips of La Crosse, Wisconsin, received
nude photos from his 16-year-old girlfriend. In 2008, he posted the
pictures on MySpace with obscene captions as a means of “venting”
after the breakup. When police asked Phillips to remove the photos
from the Web site, he refused. Police charged Phillips with
possession of child pornography, sexual exploitation of a child, and
defamation. These charges were eventually dropped, and he was
charged with causing mental harm to a child. As part of a plea
bargain, Phillips was eventually sentenced to three years of
probation and 100 hours of community service
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CASE STUDIES…
c) In Middletown, Ohio, a 13-year-old boy was arrested after a photo
of an eighth-grade girl involved in sexual activity was found on his
cell phone by school officials. He had shared the photo with other
students at a skating party…..

d) Phillip Albert sent nude pictures of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend to

70 people, including her parents and grandparents, after she
taunted him. The 18-year-old was sentenced to five years of
probation and will be registered as a sex offender until he reaches
the age of 43.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CASE STUDIES…
e) Teens are also increasingly being charged for merely exchanging
nude photos of themselves over their cell phones. A group of
Pennsylvania teenagers may be charged with disseminating and
possessing child pornography after three 13-year-old girls sent nude
or seminude images of themselves to three 16- and 17-year-old
boys.

f) Two Ohio teenagers, four Alabama middle-school students, and

many teens in other states have been arrested on similar charges for
taking and sharing nude or seminude photos of themselves
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CASE STUDIES…
g) In 24 percent of the 2,100 cases of child pornography that the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has handled, the
children took the photos themselves. Sometimes these photos are
used for purposes other than just distribution. In Wisconsin, a
teenage boy enticed other boys at his school to sext him by
pretending to be a girl. He then blackmailed seven of them into
performing sexual favors for him in exchange for not distributing
their photos.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CONCERNS..
a) Across the nation, lawmakers and citizens have begun to debate
whether teenagers involved in sexting should be charged with such
serious child-porn related offenses. Some people argue that applying
child pornography laws to teens is too harsh—that the purpose of
these laws is to protect children, not prosecute them. In Utah, the
legislature recently changed sexting from a felony to a misdemeanor
b) Authorities in Montgomery County, Ohio, have created a program
for teens arrested for sexting. This program will prevent some first-
time offenders from being registered as sex offenders—a designation
that can stay with them for up to 20 years.9 In other instances,
authorities have not prosecuted teens under child pornography laws,
but brought them up on lesser charges.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• CONCERNS..
• When photos depict a person who is over 18, the recipient often
has the right to share these photos with others who are over 18—
even when sharing is not the “right” thing to do. In these cases,
there’s no legal recourse for anyone to take to stop that person. In
the meantime, underage participants—those who have the least
life experience to help them make good decisions—are being held
accountable. Until we learn how to deal with this new
phenomenon appropriately in homes, in schools, and in the
courts, many teens and young adults will likely continue to get
hurt.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• LEARNING OBJECTIVES
These are:
• What is the basis for the protection of freedom of expression in
the United States,
• What types of expression are not protected under the law?
• What are some key federal laws that affect online freedom of
expression, and how do they impact organizations?
• What important freedom of expression issues relate to the use of
information technology?
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS

• The right to freedom of expression is one of the most important rights
for free people everywhere.
• The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted to
guarantee this right and others.
• The First Amendment reads: Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.
• In other words, the First Amendment protects Americans’ rights to
freedom of religion and freedom of expression. This amendment has
been interpreted by the Supreme Court as applying to the entire
federal government, even though it only expressly refers to Congress
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS

• Definition of speech- includes nonverbal, visual, and symbolic forms of
expression, such as flag burning, dance movements, and hand gestures
• However, the Supreme Court has held that the following types of speech
are not protected by the First Amendment and may be forbidden by the
government:
1. Would the average person, applying contemporary community standards,
find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest?
2. Does the work depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual
conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law?
3. Does the work, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or
scientific value?
• These three tests have become the U.S. standard for determining
whether something is obscene.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: KEY ISSUES

• Information technology has provided amazing new ways to
communicate with people around the world, but with these
new methods come new responsibilities and new ethical
dilemmas.
• Key issues related to freedom of expression include
 Controlling access to information on the Internet,
 Anonymity on the Internet,
 Defamation and hate speech,
 Corporate blogging, and
 Pornography.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

• FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: KEY ISSUES…

• Controlling Access to Information on the Internet
 Although there are clear and convincing arguments to support
freedom of speech online, the issue is complicated by the ease
with which children can access the Internet, but it is difficult to
restrict their access without also restricting adults’ access.
 In attempts to address this issue, the U.S. government has
passed laws, and software manufacturers have invented special
software to block access to objectionable material. The
following sections summarize these approaches:
Controlling Access to Information on the Internet

• Communications Decency Act (CDA)

• Its purpose was to allow freer competition among phone, cable, and TV
companies. Embedded in the Telecommunications Act was the
Communications Decency Act (CDA), aimed at protecting children from
pornography
• The CDA imposed $250,000 fines and prison terms of up to two years for the
transmission of “indecent” material over the Internet.
– The CDA ACT was ruled unconstitutional as it restricted free speech
• broad language and vague definition of indecency, a standard that was left to
individual communities to determine.
• If the CDA had been judged constitutional, it would have opened all aspects of
online content to legal scrutiny.
• Many current Web sites would probably either not exist or look much
different today had the law not been overturned.
• Web sites that might have been deemed indecent under the CDA would be
operating under an extreme risk of liability.
Controlling Access to Information on the Internet

• Child Online Protection Act (COPA) (1998)

• The law states that “whoever knowingly and with knowledge of
the character of the material, in interstate or foreign commerce
by means of the World Wide Web, makes any communication for
commercial purposes that is available to any minor and that
includes any material that is harmful to minors shall be fined not
more than $50,000, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or
both.”
• Eventually the Supreme Court ruled in June 2004 that there
would be “a potential for extraordinary harm and a serious chill
upon protected speech” if the law went into effect. The ruling
made it clear that COPA was unconstitutional and could not be
used to shelter children from online pornography.
Internet Filtering

• An Internet filter is a software that can be used to block access to

certain Web sites that contain material deemed inappropriate or
offensive.
• The best Internet filters use a combination of URL, keyword, and
dynamic content filtering.
• With URL filtering, a particular URL or domain name is identified
as belonging to an objectionable site, and the user is not allowed
access to it.
• Keyword filtering uses keywords or phrases—such as sex, Satan,
and gambling—to block Web sites.
• With dynamic content filtering, each Web site’s content is
evaluated immediately before it is displayed, using such
techniques as object analysis and image recognition.
Internet Filtering

• According to TopTen REVIEWS, the top rated Internet filters for

home users for 2009 include Net Nanny 6.0, Safe Eyes,
CYBERsitter, WiseChoice.NET, and CyberPatrol
• Current statistics
– Net Nanny
– McAfee Family Protection
– PureSight PC
– CYBERsitter
– CyberPatrol
Anonymity on the Internet

• Anonymity on the Internet

• Anonymous expression is the expression of opinions by people who
do not reveal their identity. The freedom to express an opinion
without fear of reprisal is an important right of a democratic society.
• Anonymity is even more important in countries that don’t allow free
speech. However, in the wrong hands, anonymous communication
can be used as a tool to commit illegal or unethical activities.
• Despite the importance of anonymity in early America, it took nearly
200 years for the Supreme Court to render rulings that addressed
anonymity as an aspect of the Bill of Rights
• The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment also protects
the right to speak anonymously.
Defamation and Hate Speech

• In the United States, speech that is merely annoying, critical,

demeaning, or offensive enjoys protection under the First
Amendment. Legal recourse is possible only when hate speech
turns into clear threats and intimidation against specific citizens.
• Persistent or malicious harassment aimed at a specific person can
be prosecuted under the law, but general, broad statements
expressing hatred of an ethnic, racial, or religious group cannot.
• A threatening private message sent over the Internet to a person,
a public message displayed on a Web site describing intent to
commit acts of hate-motivated violence at specific individuals,
and libel directed at a particular person are all actions that can be
prosecuted.
Defamation

• Defamation: Making either an oral or a written statement of

alleged fact that is false and that harms another person is
defamation.
– An oral defamatory statement is slander
– a written defamatory statement is libel
• Implication
– Although people have the right to express opinions, they must
exercise care in their online communications to avoid possible
charges of defamation.
– Organizations must also be on their guard and prepared to take
action in the event of libelous attacks against them.
 Corporate Blogging
• Corporate Blogging
• A growing number of organizations allow employees to create their own personal
blogs relating to their employment. They see blogging as a new way to reach out to
partners, customers, and other employees and to improve their corporate image.
• Under the best conditions, individual employees use their blogs to ask other
employees for help with work-related problems, to share work-related information
in a manner that invites conversation, or to invite others to refine or build on a new
idea
• However, most organizations are well aware that such blogs can also provide an
outlet for uncensored commentary and interaction. Employees can use their blogs
to criticize corporate policies and decisions. Employee blogging also involves the
risk that employees might reveal company secrets or breach federal security
disclosure laws.
• Organizations are advised to formulate and publish employee blogging policies to
avoid potential negative consequences from employee criticism of corporate
policies and decisions, or the revelation of company secrets or confidential financial
data.
Pornography

• Pornography
• Many people, including some free-speech advocates, believe that there
is nothing illegal or wrong about purchasing adult pornographic
material made by and for consenting adults. They argue that the First
Amendment protects such material.
• On the other hand, most parents, educators, and other child advocates
are concerned that children might be exposed to pornography. They
are deeply troubled by its potential impact on children and fear that
increasingly easy access to pornography encourages pedophiles and
sexual predators.
• Many companies believe that they have a duty to stop the viewing of
pornography in the workplace. As long as they can show that they took
reasonable steps and determined actions to prevent it, they have a
valid defense if they become the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit
Pornography…

 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and

Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act (2003)
• The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and
Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act specifies requirements that commercial
e-mailers must follow when sending out messages that advertise or
promote a commercial product or service. The key requirements of
the law include:
 The “From” and “To” fields in the e-mail, as well as the originating
domain name and e-mail address, must be accurate and identify the
person who initiated the e-mail.
 The subject line of the e-mail cannot mislead the recipient as to the
contents or subject matter of the message.
 The e-mail must be identified as an advertisement and include a
valid physical postal address for the sender.
Pornography…

 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and

Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act (2003)
 The e-mailer must provide a return e-mail address or some other
Internet based response procedure to enable the recipient to
request no future e-mails, and the e-mailer must honor such
requests to opt out.
 The e-mailer has 10 days to honor the opt-out request.
 Additional rules prohibit the harvesting of e-mail addresses from
Web sites, using automated methods to register for multiple e-
mail accounts, or relaying e-mail through another computer
without the owner’s permission.
Pornography…

 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and

Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act (2003)
• Each violation of the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act can result in
a fine of up to $11,000. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is
charged with enforcing the act. In addition, the FTC maintains a
consumer complaint database relating to the law.
• Consumers can submit complaints online at www.ftc.gov or
forward e-mail to the FTC at [email protected].