Free speech and message boards: an opinion and a primer...

[Lerkfish]

The first amendment in a nutshell
as it relates to internet message boards

Many people misinterpret and misunderstand it, and the framers themselves
could not have anticipated future usage, but, in a practical nutshell, here it is
in laymen's terms, as it relates to online message boards....

You have, within limitations, the right to free speech.

That doesn't mean you have the right to say anything you wish on someone else's board,
but rather you have the right to speak freely on your *own* board, as that is
owned by you, and as publisher, you can publish as you wish.

However, be prepared to defend yourself in a court of law if necessary, if anything you
say can be considered defamatory, slanderous, libelous or inciting to violence.

Further, your right to free speech cannot occlude another's right...
as an extreme example, you cannot come onto a Jewish antidefamation League
message board and spout Aryan brotherhood hate messages against Jews. You cannot
force them to carry such messages on their board to "protect" your free speech.
You can, however, start your own Aryan brotherhood board, but even
then, the above limitations apply.

The misperception many have is that an internet message board is "free" for open discussion,
but in fact, whatever remains is there at the largesse of the owner of said board.
They have the ultimate right to delete or ban whatever they wish.
For example, at a newspaper, just because an advertiser has the money,
and wishes to advertise a local nudie bar, the publisher can still refuse to
run the ad if it so desires, or require that photos of nude dancers cannot be depicted.
That is the publisher's right to do so.

Where the first amendment comes in, in theory, is to protect the press from
being strongarmed by government to not publish certain truths or be induced
to publish what it knows not to be true under governmental pressure. (notice how well that DOESN"T seem to work)

Therefore, it IS a first amendment question if you want to start a porn site,
and you are protected, within limits. However, if you come onto someone else's board
and post something they don't like or feel is dangerous to have around for various reasons, legal and otherwise, and they delete it, they are perfectly within their rights
to do so, and you actually have NO rights to expect your message to remain.

thank you.