Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace

Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace

Since the public has logged onto the internet there has been vast amounts of information available. Since the 1990s more and more countries have entered into the information age. Due to the lack of freedom of speech in several countries, censorship has now taken on a prevalent role in the suppression of information. Many countries view a great deal of information as a threat if put into the wrong hands and as a consequence attempt to reduce its availability. However, unlike many of its other counterparts, the United States takes a very liberal stance towards the access if information on the Internet, which is protected by the First Amendament. In contrast to this philosophy, the Saudi Arabian government, in an act to suppress and censor the prevalence of the information on the internet, has established laws and regulations that prohibit public access to the internet for religious and social reasons.

The United States has had internet access for over a decade now and information and usage has flourished. The technology development over the last five years has promoted internet access across the country with internet access in homes and businesses increasing exponentially. With any ISP a person decides to use there is no censorship or filtration system which limits their access to any part of the internet. ISPs and multiple companies’ offer software which helps restrict children’s access to pornographic sites or sites that parents deem harmful to their children, but the companies to explicitly filter the content that is received at a personal computer. There have been laws that have been revoked by the Supreme Court or regional courts which have tried to regulate or filter Internet access[i...

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...4/22/2004)

[iv] McCarthy, Martha. (2003). Internet Censorship: United States v. American Library Association. (4/22/2004)

[v] Committee to Protect Journalists. (2003) Attacks on the Press 2003: Mideast (4/22/2004)

[vi] Human Rights Watch. (1999) The Internet In the Mideast And North Africa – Country Profiles-Saudi Arabia (4/22/2004)

[vii] Zittrain, Jonathan and Edelman, Benjamin. (2002) . Documentation of Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia. (4/22/2004)

[viii] Human Rights Watch. (1999) The Internet In the Mideast And North Africa – Country Profiles-Saudi Arabia (4/22/2004)

[ix] Committee to Protect Journalists. (2003) Attacks on the Press 2003: Mideast (4/22/2004)

[x] Committee to Protect Journalists. (2003) Attacks on the Press 2003: Mideast (4/22/2004)

[xi] Jehl, Douglas. (1999). The Internet’s ‘Open Sesame’ Is Answered Warily. (4/22/2004)