Indecent Speech and Censorship on the Internet

Scope

• Use this page to list sources related to the regulation of speech online that is deemed obscene, indecent, or harmful to minors, sources related to government censorship of the internet, and to parental/user controls such as filtering technologies. State efforts to regulate the internet are also covered on Other Issues of Online Free Speech.

News / Editorial

• Jason Kincaid, Today’s Lesson: Make Facebook Angry, And They’ll Censor You Into Oblivion, TechCrunch (Nov. 23, 2010).
• Author not listed, Germany Resists EU Plans to Block Child Porn Sites, Spiegel Online International (Mar. 30, 2010).
• Tamar Lewin, Rethinking Sex Offender Laws for Teenage Texting, NY Times (Mar. 20, 2010).
• Tamar Lewin, Court Says Parents Can Block ‘Sexting’ Cases, NY Times (Mar. 17, 2010).
• Anick Jesdanun, Online censorship more sophisticated, report finds , cnet (Mar. 11, 2010).
• Larry Magid, Net oversight board to consider .xxx domains , cnet (Mar. 10, 2010).
• James Sullivan, Butler University Case an Important Victory for Free Speech, finding Dulcinea (Feb. 25, 2010).
• Peter Sayer, French Net Filtering Plan Moves Forward, PC World (Feb.17, 2010).
• Mark Davis, Porn fans attack website to protest against censorship, The Sydney Morning Herald (Feb. 13, 2010).
• Carmen Gentile, Student Suspended for Facebook Page Can Sue, New York Times (Feb. 15, 2010).
• David Kravets, ‘Obscene’ U.S. Manga Collector Jailed 6 Months, Wired (Feb. 12, 2010).
• Tatiana Kalinovskaya, Opposition Attacks Belarus Internet Crackdown, AFP (Feb. 3, 2010).
• Eric Pfanner, Europe Looms as Major Battleground for Google, New York Times (Feb. 1, 2010).
• Lucy Hornby, China paper slams U.S. for cyber role in Iran unrest, Washington Post (Jan. 24, 2010).
• Nate Anderson, Hillary Clinton slams "Information Curtain" of censorship, Ars Technica (Jan. 21, 2010).
• David Drummond, A new approach to China, The Official Google Blog (Jan. 12, 2010).
• Jacqui Cheng, Sheriff's lawsuit over craigslist erotic ads thrown out, Ars Technica (Oct. 22, 2009).
• Jacqui Cheng, China, Malaysia scale back censorship; Vietnam steps it up, Ars Technica (Aug. 14, 2009).
• Ray Long & Monique Garcia, New law makes sex offenders' use of Internet social networking a felony, Chicago Tribune (Aug. 12, 2009).
• Eric Bangeman, Aussie 'Net filtering trial deemed a success despite problems, Ars Technica (Jul. 27, 2009).
• Charles Toutant, N.J. Legislation Would Decriminalize 'Sexting' by Teens, New Jersey Law Journal (Jul. 23, 2009).
• Lucy Hornby, Falun Gong seeks U.S. support in Internet censor fight, Reuters (Jul. 20, 2009).
• Jacqui Cheng, New Zealand moves forward with child porn filtering system, Ars Technica (Jul. 17, 2009).
• Andrew Colley, Government opposes .xxx domains, Australian IT (Jul. 10, 2009).
• Fran Foo, Net filtering a $33m waste: child groups, Australian IT (Jul. 9, 2009).
• Nate Anderson, Australian 'Net filter to block video games, too, Ars Technica (Jun. 25, 2009).
• John Timmer, Fight over German filtering law sends MP into Pirate Party, Ars Technica (Jun. 22, 2009).
• Jacqui Cheng, China starts meddling with Google results because of porn, Ars Technica (Jun. 19, 2009).
• Ryan Paul, Big vulnerabilities in China's mandatory filtering software, Ars Technica (Jun. 12, 2009).
• Bob Von Sternberg and Bill McAuliffe, State drops bid to regulate online gambling Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jun. 8, 2009).
• Paul Walsh, New tactic in war on online gambling, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Apr. 29, 2009).
• John Woolfolk, San Jose council votes down porn filters at public library computers, San Jose Mercury News (Apr. 21, 2009).
• Cole Kazdin and Imaeyen Ibanga, The Truth About Teens Sexting, ABC News (Apr. 15, 2009).
• Julian Sanchez, Federal judge blocks teen "sexting" charges, Ars Technica (Mar. 31, 2009).
• Duncan Campbell, Operation Ore exposed, PC Pro (Jul. 1, 2005).
• Philip Elmer-DeWitt, On a Screen Near You: Cyberporn, TIME Magazine (Jul. 3, 1995).
• Ashby Jones, Third Circuit Mulls DA-as-Teacher Allegations in ‘Sexting’ Case, Wall Street Journal Law Blog (Jan. 19, 2010).

Legal Briefs / Opinions / Statutes

• 18 U.S.C. § 2256.
• 18 U.S.C. § 2257.
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Holder, No. 09-4607 (Jul. 27, 2010) (record-keeping requirements of §§ 2257 and 2257A are constitutional).
• United States v. Kilbride, Nos. 07-10528 & 07-10534 (9th Cir. Oct. 28, 2009) ("[A] national community standard must be applied in regulating obscene speech on the Internet, including obscenity disseminated via email.").
• Dart v. Craigslist, Inc., No. 09 C 1385 (N.D. Il. Oct. 20, 2009) (holding Craigslist is not liable for public nuisance by facilitating prostitution, citing 47 USC §230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act under which providers of interactive computer services are not liable for the dissemination of third-part content).
• Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Schwarzenegger, 556 F.3d 950 (9th Cir. 2009).
• Connection Distributing Co. v. Holder, (6th Cir. Feb. 20, 2009) (en banc).
• The King's English, Inc. v. Shurtleff, No. 05-485, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60699, 2008 WL 3285898 (D. Utah Aug. 8, 2008).
• Am. Booksellers Found. for Free Expression v. Strickland, 512 F. Supp. 2d 1082 (S.D. Ohio 2007).
• Department of Justice, Final Rulemaking re: 2257 Record-keeping Regulations (May 24, 2005).
• Lee Tien, Amicus Brief on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Nitke v. Ashcroft, 413 F. Supp. 2d 262 (S.D.N.Y. 2005).
• Ctr. for Democracy & Tech. v. Pappert, 337 F. Supp. 2d 606 (E.D. Penn. 2004).
• Interactive Digital Software Ass'n v. St Louis County, 329 F.3d 954 (8th Cir. 2003).
• Am. Library Ass'n v. U.S., 201 F.Supp.2d 401 (E.D. Pa. 2002).
• U.S. v. Thomas, 74 F.3d 701 (6th Cir. 1996).

Scholarship

• National Research Council, Youth, Pornography, and the Internet, (2002).
• Brad Cox, Cyberporn Fear Storm (1998).
• Jonathan Weinberg, Rating the Net, 19 Hastings Comm. & Ent. L.J. 453 (1997).
• Brock Meeks, Point-Five Percent Solution, CyberWire Dispatch (1995).