Taking Free Speech Seriously: The United States Supreme Court and Virtual Child Pornography
11 Pages Posted: 11 Nov 2002
Date Written: November 2002
Abstract
This essay praises the Supreme Court's decision, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, for taking the First Amendment seriously. Emphasizing the importance of protecting bad speech, such as flag burning, or Nazi speech, the article explores whether virtual child pornography is significantly different from these other forms of bad speech to warrant different treatment. After distinguishing real child pornography as analogous to a child labor law and unlike free speech, the essay concludes that virtual child pornography is speech that ought to be constitutionally protected.
Keywords: Free speech, First Amendment, Internet regulation, Pornography
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