Freedom With Responsibility

With the recent signing of the telecommunications bill in the USA, netizens are sounding the clarion call to fight for free speech on the Internet.

The issue originally stemmed from an incident at Virginia Tech where one college student apparently Emailed a threatening letter to another student and was disciplined for the act. Speaking to that particular incident, an editorial appeared in THE WASHINGTON POST that, "...it's bad practice to restrict student speech on-line. Free speech is good for the Internet for the same reasons it's good for the real world."

While we have a constitutional right to speak freely in the US, and I am grateful that we do, I am concerned by this attitude that suggests no responsibility for one's acts.

When one sends a letter full of hate or intimidation or threats, there is harm intended. That person is deliberately trying to hurt another person by use of violent language. And to read such a letter hurts. Yes, the terms of "hate," "intimidation," and "threatening" can be debated. But they can also be proven in a court of law by a panel of one's peers, I would think.

Rather than impinging upon the right of free speech, and rather than imposing more regulations on a overly-regulated world, perhaps each person on the Internet can agree to a reasonable request: You may have the freedom to say anything you choose, but if you choose to harm someone with language, you will be held responsible for taking that action."

Freedom with Responsibility. It is a very old concept. But a very workable one.

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