| Chapter 2: | Background |
|
|
As scholars in communication studies examined Internet issues and analyzed material appearing in cyberspace, legal scholars reviewed the law in the area of free expression and offered their analyses of how it applied to online content.
Legal scholars’ interest in discussing online speech issues intensified after governmental concerns about the Internet’s unregulated nature led Congress to enact the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The first extensive overhaul of telecommunications law since 1934, the Act included a controversial section named the Communications Decency Act (CDA) (Canis & Soriano, 1996). While the CDA addressed many worthy concerns with regard to child pornography and minors’ access to obscene materials, it also had speech-restrictive provisions which many felt were both unconstitutional and ill-suited for the Internet. Immediately following the CDA’s enactment, legal scholars offered their views on the Act. At the same time, a variety of groups joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a suit challenging the Act’s constitutionality (ACLU v. Reno, 1996). The case of Reno v. ACLU (1997) would eventually reach the Supreme Court, where a majority of the justices held that the CDA’s “indecent transmission” and “patently offensive display” provisions were unconstitutionally vague and placed an unacceptably heavy burden on protected speech.
However, far from ending the debate regarding the proper regulatory model for the Internet, the Court’s decision left many issues of online content regulation unresolved. Since the Reno decision, legislators have continually failed in their efforts to draft laws in the area of online speech regulation that can withstand constitutional muster. What is more, legal scholars continue to offer a broad spectrum of opinions as to what restrictions could be placed on Internet content without violating the First Amendment.
Internet Hate Speech: Communication Research and Legal Research Diverge
Following the Reno decision, Internet hate speech soon became a subject of both concern and First Amendment debate as hate groups began posting their rhetoric online.