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He does so in a way that can engage the reader that is new to the literature on freedom of expression, and at the same time inform those who are highly familiar with the issues, cases, and complexities with which this book deals.
Few will doubt that the Internet has contributed more to the presentation and sharing of information than any other form of electronic media in our world today. As a youth growing up in Michigan during the middle part of the 20th century, the means and amounts of information available to me paled in comparison to what now lies in front of citizens in the 21st century. Moreover, the cultural norms and expectations guiding, permitting, accepting, and challenging information have dramatically changed as well. This work by Dr. Barnett takes readers into the midst of cultural changes reflected in the use of the Internet in light of current protection under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The subject, of course, is hate sites—a growing display of controversial information that, among other responses, challenges voices of moral opposition to question whether or not the continuance of such material as information should be permitted.
This book is an excellent report of an ongoing activity and controversy in America, a nation that we know guarantees freedom of expression but not without some limitations and constraints. Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court is annually challenged with making decisions that contribute to First Amendment theory, as well as the use of information in public discourse. In the current study we find a well organized, clearly written, and carefully documented analysis of hateful expression easily located on the Internet. The author carefully constructs the background for his research and poses eight research questions to guide his effort to examine the primary interests of legal and communication scholars in their consideration of hate sites on the Internet, and whether they contain constitutionally protected content. The book is an insightful message for anyone interested in public discourse from a rhetorical, as well as a legal, point of view. The work by Dr. Barnett lays out a careful consideration of key issues grounded in the current cultural milieu.