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The First Amendment in the Digital Age: What Is Speech and How Should It Be Protected?

The First Amendment in the Digital Age: What Is Speech and How Should It Be Protected?
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Author(s): Sam B. Edwards III (Quinnipiac University, USA)
Copyright: 2020
Pages: 26
Source title: Digital Transformation and Its Role in Progressing the Relationship Between States and Their Citizens
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Sam B. Edwards III (Quinnipiac University, USA)and Diogo Santos (Pitágoras College, Brazil & Estácio de Sa University, Brazil)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3152-5.ch004

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Abstract

The United States is facing challenges in applying First Amendment principles from the 18th century to modern communications. This chapter examines cases where the government has intruded upon First Amendment rights. The first section examines when the government attempts to prevent protests by cutting internet access. This amounts to a digital gag and ear plugs for the protesters. Aside from cutting access to a single area, some governments have access to total internet “kill switches.” This allows unsurpassed censorship of speech. Now there are technical means installed in most phones that could allow governments to disconnect internet access at the individual phone. In the area of social media, the courts are struggling to identify what constitutes speech. For example, when is a “like” or a “wink” speech? Equally important, when can a political figure censor speech through blocking users on social media? These cases represent warning signs that the United States, just like other countries, is struggling to adapt eighteenth century legal principles to modern communication.

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