Will Germany’s New Regulation Kill Free Speech Online?

free speech lawCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of faith, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the liberty of speech, or of the press; or the appropriate of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Authorities for a redress of grievances. The opinion in Brandenburg discarded the earlier check of “clear and present danger” and made the precise to freedom of (political) speech’s protections in the United States almost absolute. Freedom of speech is protected by Article 40.6.1 of the Irish constitution However the article qualifies this right, providing that it might not be used to undermine “public order or morality or the authority of the State”.

Freedom of speech may be limited during wartime. Metropolis and state governments monitored newspapers, books , theater, comedy acts, and films for offensive content, and enforced laws with arrests, impoundment of materials, and fines. Flag burning as political protest is a type of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.

Europe’s highest human rights courtroom ruled on Friday that disparagement of religious doctrines such as insulting the Prophet Muhammad is not protected by freedom of expression and could be prosecuted. For example, beneath a speech code in effect on the College of Michigan for 18 months, there were 20 cases by which white college students charged Black students with offensive speech.

While these provisions place limits on freedom of expression, they have received little attention by commentators or in Canadian courts. The Supreme Court docket of Canada has recognized … Read More