The Chilling Effect

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Recommended: Freedom of speech censorship and consequences

Chilling effect occurs when governmental actions that do not abridge constitutional rights encourage individuals to refrain from exercising their rights (Lee, 2005). It most often occurs, when individuals wanting express an action(s) protected by the First Amendment, and is most closely associated with procedural aspects of free speech adjudication. Nevertheless, often this occurs during litigation to deter specific actions; for example, using the death penalty to leverage a plea deal.

To that point, an article written by Yale Law School, details the impact of chilling effects regarding Executive Order (E.O.) 12.333, which serves as the general charter for mass intelligence surveillance. Most recently, the MFIA Clinic helped the ACLU launch a litigation to learn more about the intricate details of Executive Order 12.333 (Perlin, 2017). According to the literature, increased disclosures regarding the workings of this Executive Order 12.333 …show more content…

Furthermore, the broader a legal text the more it will deter free speech, due to civilians wanting to avoid miscommunications. Results of chilling effects from mass government surveillance programs are demonstrated through recent studies, that document the disproportional impact of surveillance-based monitoring on women, minorities, and youth (Perlin, 2017).

Throughout the world, states have increased policing internet activities, it has been argued by activists that such activities have increased chilling effects, an empirical case study was conducted and administered to adult internet users. This study showed, a statistical significance of the chilling effect on younger internet users with regard to government surveillance, and that women were likely to feel the chilling effect when it involved personal legal

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