Professor Breslin
MCO 300A
November 21, 2016
Internet Censorship The Constitution’s First Amendment protects five fundamental freedoms under its application: Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to peacefully assemble, freedom of the press, and freedom to petition the government. With this being known, freedom of speech is arguably the most commonly practiced openly among the aforementioned five. Speech is a broad term, though. In our modern era, speech is equivalent to words spoken out loud, as well as those expressed electronically on the Internet in public settings. It can be difficult to ascertain what kind of speech is not protected by the First Amendment because; there are, in fact, some exceptions, which …show more content…
The Internet, along with social media as one of its most modern manifestations, has made it increasingly hard to discern what is considered indecent speech in today’s age. Minors can be subjected to this kind of content unknowingly. With the Internet being an expansive medium, and with little supervision, some minors could be viewing and be exposed to content that is wholly unnecessary. The world-wide web is a treacherous place. There are different sections of it that apply to different groups of people; some niche and some general. As such, website content, including social media posts, should be monitored, and regulated by the government to protect those who are not of age from being exposed to hateful and inappropriate material for the sake of their own wellbeing and mental health. Pornography as a whole, is not illegal. Pornography is referred to as “material dealing with sex [that is] designed to arouse …show more content…
This is known as cyberbullying, and it also holds a major threat for minors’ wellbeing. A sizeable portion of the average person’s life is spent online either interacting with others, or surfing the web. When it comes to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, there are no overall guidelines. Each website has its own terms and conditions page, but the content itself is not strictly monitored. The reason for this is the First Amendment. With the free speech clause, someone should be able to post their opinion without government crackdown. This extendts to those who engage in cyberbullying, with access to a large audience, anonymity in some cases, and lower levels of supervision (Hase). Even in cases when some websites allow for profiles and information about an individual to be available, they can still be a medium where keyboard confrontation takes place in contrast to face to face interaction. Online and in person victimizations can go hand in hand in the digital age (Hase), and can be translated from one medium to another easily. Someone can be attacked online and then face scrutiny in social settings, more commonly in school when referring to minors