This class proved to be as thought provoking as I imagined it would be. Two things surprised me:
First - as adult citizens, we have an incredible amount of freedom when it comes to the First Amendment. We are free to speak our mind with very few limits. We can defame others, or incite violence, but, relatively speaking, anything else goes.
Second - For as much freedom as we have on the Internet, it could be gone in a heartbeat. What concerns me the most about the First Amendment in the Digital Age for the future is the vast amount of discretion the private ISP's have. If these companies wanted, they could severely curtail our freedom of speech.
This is certainly an interesting dichotomy. It is my hope that we take action to ensure the Internet remains a protected forum for the free expression of speech.
I totally agree, while we enjoy the most expansive free speech rights in the world the nature of the internet means that this can change far more rapidly than in years past. The power ISPs have to regulate speech and content on the internet is freighting to me, I have a serious problem with Congress delegating its responsibilities to the ISPs because they are profit oriented and as a result there is great potential for abuse. I don’t know what the answer is but this class has definitely put a great deal of perspective on the issue!
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