Hot Topics on the First Amendment frontier
Jan 14th, 2008 by Rob
Free speech on online message boards
There are a number of online communities devoted to controversial subjects, and many of them include public discussion forums in which people express themselves in ways that they might not otherwise in everyday life. Because these discussions are accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, sometimes the threads provoke public outcry, out of which arises debate on the somewhat nebulous idea of how to regulate cyberspeech
Sample news item: School teacher arrested for posting statements praising the student shooters in the Columbine High School attacks http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2007/12/01/newsupdate/06arrested.txt
Rights of student journalists
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/378386.html
Anonymity within the blogging community
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS01/712220372/1004
Open Internet access in other nations (China, etc.)
Censoring violence in popular culture and the media
Laws being created to regulate what can and cannot be made available to minors – and in some cases, restricting what can be created at all
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=48477
First Amendment rights of teachers
Restricting and reacting to controversial issues (religion, politics) discussed by teachers in a classroom environment
http://www.ocregister.com/news/corbett-students-high-1943118-school-capistrano
