mike_barton
Editor

Judge: Even MySpace speech protected

news
Apr 10, 20071 min

Political speech is just that — even if in MySpace, an Indiana court ruled today.

Odd. Why would there be any First Amendment test just because it is speech on MySpace?

From the Associated Press report:

The three-judge panel on Monday ordered the Putnam Circuit Court to set aside its penalty against the girl, referred to only as A.B. in court records.

“While we have little regard for A.B.’s use of vulgar epithets, we conclude that her overall message constitutes political speech,” Judge Patricia Riley wrote in the 10-page opinion.

This makes me wonder, if newspaper publishers do not understand online, do judges? In other words, how could the earlier judge have made such an obviously wrong (unconstitutional) decision? And given so, what would happen if the same thing occurred with text messages (SMS) or viral video, sent to all the schoolkids’ cell phones?

Is this just an example of technology ahead of the courts, or a judge who does not understand free speech rules? Talk back to me, below.

mike_barton

Mike Barton started out in online slinging HTML for CNET.com in the late 1990s and began his editorial career at New Media magazine shortly thereafter. In his early days, he was an editor at Ziff-Davis's PC Computing and ZDNet.com before heading Down Under, where he produced and edited the business and technology sections of The Sydney Morning Herald online. After returning to the States in 2006, he has worked for IDG's Infoworld, PCWorld, Computerworld, and CSO Online. He currently edits and produces WIRED.com's Innovation Insights, and is a contributing editor at ITworld.

More from this author