The Speech Enhancing Effect of Internet Regulation

Abstract:     
This article, written in response to an article by Amitai Etzioni, suggests that certain speech-reducing regulations will, in fact, be speech-enhancing for children. This is because children are vulnerable to far greater censorship at the hands of their parents. Regulations that inspire parents to relax their grip on their children's access to information are likely to produce significant net speech gains for children. Viewed this way, regulations designed to protect children can be conceived as pitting the speech interests of adults against the speech interests of children. The article suggests a number of reasons we might value the children's speech gain over the adult's speech loss, particularly in the context of internet speech.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 17

Keywords: Amitai Etzioni

working papers series