Jorge R. Roig (Charleston School of Law) has posted “Emerging Technologies and Dwindling Speech”, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 16, 2013 (Forthcoming). The abstract reads:
Inspired in part by the recent holding in Bland v. Roberts that the use of the “Like” feature in Facebook is not covered by the Free Speech Clause, this article makes a brief foray into the approach that courts have taken in the recent past towards questions of First Amendment coverage in the context of emerging technologies. Specifically, this article will take a closer look at how courts have dealt with the issue of functionality in the context of First Amendment coverage of computer source code. The analysis of this and other recent experiences, when put in a larger context, reflects a continuing dissatisfaction on the part of both courts and legislatures with the current Supreme Court doctrine on First Amendment coverage. From this discussion, we can also derive some meaningful normative insights regarding the interplay between emerging technologies and First Amendment coverage doctrine. Finally, this article hopes to serve as a stepping stone in a more profound and long term pursuit of a comprehensive theory of constitutional individual rights coverage issues that might serve us well as the future brings unexpected changes in our society.
Download a copy of the paper via SSRN here.
Related articles
- Prof. Stuart Benjamin on Algorithms and Speech (volokh.com)
Filed under: cyberlibel, cyberslapp, cybersmear, cyberspace, defamation, Facebook, First Amendment, free speech, Freedom of expression, freedom of speech, internet, internet defamation, internet jurisdiction, internet law, Internet Service Providers Tagged: Charleston School of Law, Facebook, First Amendment, First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of the United States, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law
