Do I Have Freedom Of Speech On The Internet?
Posted August 16, 2008 by Mister Knowitall

I posted a comment to a blog the other day. Today I went back and it was gone. I e-mailed the guy who owns the blog and he told me he deleted it. What’s up with that? His blog is in the U.S. and I’m an American, so isn’t that a violation of my First Amendment rights?

Too many people think that freedom of speech means they have the right to say whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, and everyone else has to allow it. Nope. It primarily means you can’t get arrested for what you say… most of the time.

It’s expanded to the government not being able to outlaw certain words or topics merely because some people find them offensive, i.e. you can’t be arrested on Indecency charges for dropping the F-bomb in a comedy club anymore. But while the First Amendment prevents the police from arresting you for saying things the government doesn’t like, it doesn’t obligate other citizens to listen to you or give you a forum for expressing those things.

So, the FBI isn’t going to arrest you or shut down your blog for making an unflattering, but innocuous comment about Barack Obama or John McCain. On the other hand, the owner of a blog who has written a blog post that is favorable to one of them doesn’t have to publish comments where people disagree with him. He’s not Congress, he’s not a government agency, and there’s no law requiring him to keep your comment.

It’s just like the fact that newspapers get to print the “Letters to the Editor” that they find worthwhile and are not obligated to print every crackpot diatribe that someone chooses to send them.

If you don’t want anyone “censoring” you, put up your own blog or web page. You can say anything you want there… almost. I say “almost” because you’ll still be limited by your contract with your hosting service and ISP, which may be more restrictive than the First Amendment. And it’s also worth noting that the First Amendment is not absolute.

If your blog tries to talk people into violently overthrowing the U.S. government, it may be illegal. You can speak out against the government, and you can suggest that the citizens throw the bums out using the electoral process, but if you recommend armed revolt, you could see the FBI visiting you. You also can’t make death threats against the President, play your music too loud after 10 p.m. in many cities, or publish kiddie porn. And those are just some of the limits on freedom of speech that the First Amendment does allow.

And if you want to exercise your freedom of speech at work, don’t. Your employer can fire you for all sorts of speech that is perfectly legal, but which is inappropriate for the workplace.

Basically, your free speech rights keep you from getting arrested for what you say… most of the time. Beyond that, you’re on your own.