Free Speech and the Internet

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Table of Contents

Introduction
“Don’t Feed the Trolls”: consequences of online vitriol
The dilemma of the digital rights
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Freedom of speech is a constitutional right in the United States and the majority of other countries worldwide. Before being established, it has been a subject to fight over and is now, no doubt, an essential trait of a liberal, mostly censorship-free state. Yet, even before the era of the Internet, the right to free speech has proven to be a controversial topic. Certainly, authoritarian leaders have tried to take this freedom away from their opposition and the dissatisfied general population, which should not be allowed. However, other questions concerning free speech have remained more morally complex and centered around horrifying social and personal consequences it might sometimes entail. Online spaces allow for increasing anonymity and enable higher levels of harassment than any face-to-face disagreement. On the Internet, unmoderated free speech is simply not feasible, as it would lead to unjustified freedom from consequence, yet a balance must be found to not undermine users’ self-expression.

“Don’t Feed the Trolls”: consequences of online vitriol

Social media provides larger opportunities for anonymity than any other tool before: a user can pick and choose which information to disclose publicly. Hence many accounts exist online without ever sharing their real names or pictures while being able to share thoughts and comments on controversial topics or socially charged posts. This sense of safety has enabled certain individuals to post deliberately aggressive, provocative, and hateful material (Clucas, 2020). Comment sections, in particular, are often rife with remarks that would not be tolerated in a face-to-face exchange. As trolls frequently engage in racism, homophobia, sexism, and so on, such verbal abuse predictably ends up targeting primarily users from already marginalized groups. As freedom of speech has become a universal right in the eyes of the public, instead of collective responsibility, trolls often insist on having a “right to hate” (Clucas, 2020). Subsequently, large online platforms employ moderators to oversee their comments sections, which technically goes against free speech ideals but is essential to ensure user safety.

The dilemma of the digital rights

Over the last few years, the topic of information protection and safe digital communication has come to the forefront of the political debate concerning individual rights. Moderator teams are faced with the challenge of balancing safety measures with ensuring the privacy of personal information. The public sphere is collectively preoccupied with the questions of how much control is too far and who sets the line between offensive and inconvenient for the political majority. In response to this turmoil, scholars have begun to develop a separate concept of digital rights. It applies the existing constitutional and general human rights to the global, multidimensional, and often unpredictable digital context (Karppinen & Puukko, 2020). Groups like Electronic Frontier Foundation and Global Network Initiative recognize the political nature of rights-related debates but emphasize how digital technology has created a separate environment with its norms. The emergence of such a field allows the freedom of speech to be not weakened but adapted to the online realities.

Conclusion

At this stage of societal development, politics and the Internet go hand-in-hand, with the online environment acting as a stage for heated debates on the most topical issues. Certain levels of moderation and even censorship of aggressive comments are necessary to ensure the platform is suitable for productive discourse and safe for marginalized users. Yet to preserve this constitutional right and utilize it effectively in the age of anonymity, ongoing studies of digital communication rights might be required.

References

Clucas, T. (2020). ‘Don’t feed the trolls’. In S. Polak & D. Trottier (Eds.), Violence and trolling on social media: History, affect, and effects of online vitriol. (pp. 47-64). Amsterdam University Press. Web.

Karppinen, K., & Puukko, O. (2020). Four discourses of digital rights: promises and problems of rights-based politics.Journal of Information Policy, 10, 304-328. Web.

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Free Speech and the Internet

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