| Chapter 2: | Background |
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It was not long before millions of users were online in the United States. Not surprisingly, communication scholars were soon turning their attention to Internet-related issues.
At the same time individuals were celebrating the free-expression potential of the Internet, others were voicing their concerns about the possible negative effects caused when hate speech is communicated in offline settings. Increasing debate about the wisdom of regulating hate speech would occur in the United States during the early 1990s, following an apparent rise in the amount of “hate crimes” throughout the country (Fenton, 1994; Moore, 1993). Hate crimes were so prevalent in the United States during the late 1980s that in 1990 Congress enacted the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which required the FBI to create and maintain a system for collecting statistical data on the problem (Fenton; Jackson & Heckman, 2002). In an effort to combat the evils of bias-motivated crimes, several college campuses adopted “hate speech codes,” and many cities drafted “hate crime ordinances” that included restrictions on hateful speech (Moore). Soon, legal scholars were joining the debate about hate speech, arguing both for and against its regulation. This debate would rage on throughout the 1990s after hate speech codes and hate crime ordinances started being subjected to First Amendment scrutiny by federal courts.
Internet Speech: Communication Research and Legal Research Intersect
Given their interest in communication-related issues, communication scholars were likely the ones primarily concerned with studying the Internet as it was emerging into a mass medium during the early 1990s. However, legal scholars quickly became interested in “cyberspace” as soon as questions arose about the legality of performing transactions and posting content online. Legal scholars explored topics related to various “cybercrimes,” such as electronic fraud, theft, and invasions of privacy. However, the most direct connection legal scholars made with communication scholars was through their analyses of the free speech protections that should be afforded to Internet content.