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The Internet and Social Media

Document Type

Book Section

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech

Abstract

This chapter surveys the distinctive free speech problems raised by the Internet and social media, discussing the most pressing, prominent issues around Internet speech regulation, with attention to variations across legal systems. It begins by briefly describing the Internet’s communicative architecture. The chapter then looks at structural concerns that have limited online free speech or prompted regulatory attention in the Internet Age. These include inequalities of access; power relationships among governments, private speech intermediaries, and Internet users; and the ways the Internet’s architecture complicates effective regulation. Finally, the chapter considers key substantive issues for online communication, including hate speech, privacy, intellectual property, and the credibility and influence of online news sources.

Keywords

First Amendment, Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech, Free Speech, Internet, Social Media, Internet Speech Regulation, Online Free Speech, Online Communication, Hate Speech, Privacy, Intellectual Property, Online News Sources

Publication Citation

Gregory P. Magarian, The Internet and Social Media, in The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech 350 (Adrienne Stone & Frederick Schauer eds., 2021)

Comments

Online ISBN: 9780191866425 Print ISBN: 9780198827580

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