Freedom of Speech

Since my blog post is on July 4th (ed. note: July 5th, sorry, Kelly!) I felt it was appropriate to talk about freedom of speech in the modern computerized world.  Nearly every day, on various websites or social networks news feeds, I see people with their virtual fists in the air, screaming that their freedom of speech has been violated by the tyrannical moderation staff because their post or comment was removed.  What the irate people seem to have forgotten was that little box they checked when they signed up for the website that read: ‘I agree with the Terms of Service’.

As a regular Joe internet user, I don’t always read the Terms of Service before checking that box either.  Generally, I only read it after something of mine is removed, and low and behold, I did do something I agreed not to.  Terms of Service or Terms of Use can cover a wide range of issues, including acceptable user behavior online, a company’s marketing policies, and copyright notices.

I always thought that freedom of speech meant you could say anything you wanted.   After a bit of research, for my blog post I have found out that is not the case.  The first amendment does not cover obscenity, defamation, harassment, privileged communications, trade secrets, classified material, copyright, patents, military conduct and commercial speech such as advertising.

I read through multiple Terms of Service and the First Amendment concept of a “Freedom of Speech”.  To be honest, there is a lot of legal stuff I don’t have a clue about.  But what I can understand, TOS and freedom of speech have similar rules of what is not acceptable such as no copyright infringement, harassment and obscenities.  I find it almost amusing when someone cries foul play over an edit because of “Freedom of Speech” when the moderator was in fact squarely enforcing concepts embodied within the First Amendment itself.

So, to all the moderators out there I want to say thank you on this July 4th, for upholding Freedom of Speech, according to the clients Terms of Service.

-Kelly Ammann