Home : Free Speech : Internet Censorship

Court Upholds Privacy Advocate's Right to Post Public Records on Website (08/22/2008)
Richmond, VA - Federal Court Judge Robert E. Payne today ruled that Virginia's new law prohibiting the publication of Social Security Numbers, including those taken from government websites available to the public, is unconstitutional as applied to the website of privacy rights advocate B.J. Ostergren.

ACLU Calls FCC Penalty Against Comcast a Step Forward Toward Net Freedom (08/01/2008)
Washington, DC – Today the Federal Communications Commission is expected to penalize Comcast for violating the FCC’s principles to ensure open access to the Internet.

Federal Court Once Again Upholds Ban On Unconstitutional Internet Censorship Law (07/22/2008)
PHILADELPHIA - In a clear victory for free speech today, a federal court once again upheld a ban on a law that would criminalize constitutionally protected speech on the Internet. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the unconstitutional Child Online Protection Act (COPA) on behalf of a broad coalition of writers, artists and health educators who use the internet to communicate constitutionally protected speech.

ACLU Urges Court To Uphold Ban On Unconstitutional Censorship Law (06/10/2008)
PHILADELPHIA - The American Civil Liberties Union is in court today, once again urging the courts to uphold a ban on a law that criminalizes constitutionally protected speech on the Internet. The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) would impose draconian criminal sanctions, with penalties of up to $50,000 per day and up to six months imprisonment, for online material acknowledged as protected for adults but deemed "harmful to minors."

ACLU Skeptical of Senate Report on "Homegrown" Terrorism (05/08/2008)
Washington, DC – After Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a report on Islamic homegrown terrorism today, the American Civil Liberties Union strongly urged Congress to use caution when moving forward on related legislation, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 1959). The report, "Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorism Threat," is based on findings from hearings held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The ACLU and nearly twenty other groups sent a memo to the committee outlining concerns with the report, most notably the free speech implications of labeling the internet as a "weapon" and the unfair singling out of one religious group as possible "extremists."

ACLU Commends Net Neutrality Hearing (05/06/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union commends Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet for holding a hearing today on the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5353), legislation designed to keep the Internet free for open discourse.

Congress Must Act to Keep the Internet Free from Censorship (03/11/2008)
Washington, DC – Testifying today before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on net neutrality, the director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, Caroline Fredrickson, urged Congress to act to safeguard free speech on the Internet. “Congress should act to protect the rights of all Internet users to send and receive lawful content free of censorship from government or business,” Fredrickson said. “Restoring meaningful rules that protect Internet users from corporate censorship is vital to the future of free speech on the Internet.”

MAINE ACTIVISTS RENEW CALL FOR NET NEUTRALITY (02/25/2008)
PORTLAND –Mainers who are actively working to ensure that the Internet is available to all users without discrimination travel to Boston today for a Federal Communications Commission hearing on the issue of network neutrality, the principle of non-discrimination on the Internet. The FCC hearing will address Comcast’s practice of blocking peer-to-peer traffic on its network, and the FCC has requested comment on Verizon Communications’ recent blocking of text messaging.

ACLU Calls for Congressional Hearings on Net Neutrality (10/05/2007)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today called on Congress to hold hearings to explore recent anti-consumer actions taken by several Internet service providers that infringed on users’ freedom of speech and access to lawful information. The ACLU believes Congress must take action to restore the network neutrality protections that were in place before 2005 and ensure the Internet remains vibrant, innovative and free of discrimination.

Verizon’s Blocking Content is a Cry for Government Action on Net Neutrality, Free Speech Advocates are Feeling the Big Chill (09/27/2007)
Washington, DC –- The American Civil Liberties Union said that Verizon’s actions to block political speech in text messages do not bode well for free speech. While the ACLU appreciates that Verizon immediately changed course and allowed the speech after public outcry, Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office Caroline Fredrickson said, “this is exactly why we need the Government’s leadership on net neutrality for a free and open marketplace of ideas to continue to thrive in this country.”

Diverse Coalition Announces Support for Net Neutrality Legislation in Maine (05/08/2007)
PORTLAND – The Maine Civil Liberties Union and other free speech advocates today joined state business leaders and computer professionals to call on the Maine Legislature to keep the Internet neutral and protect the freedom of individuals and small companies to post content online. The coalition is urging legislators to pass a bill known as “An Act to Protect Network Neutrality,” or LD 1675.

ACLU Victorious in Defense of Online Free Speech (03/22/2007)
NEW YORK - A federal district court today ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union’s longstanding challenge to an Internet censorship law, ACLU v. Gonzales. Although the law was enacted in 1998, courts immediately forbade the government from enforcing it because it suppressed a substantial amount of constitutionally protected speech.

California Supreme Court Ruling Strengthens Protections for Online Free Speech, ACLU Says (11/20/2006)
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a victory for free speech on the Internet, the California Supreme Court ruled today that no provider or user of an interactive computer service may be held liable for putting material on the Internet that was written by someone else. In doing so, the Court overruled an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal.

Landmark Online Free Speech Trial Wraps Up on Monday, November 20 (11/17/2006)
PHILADELPHIA - On Monday, November 20, following a four-week trial, the American Civil Liberties Union will present concluding arguments in federal district court in its longstanding challenge to an Internet censorship law. The censorship law was signed by President Clinton in 1998 and has never been enforced.

ACLU Returns to Court to Defend Right to Online Free Speech (10/23/2006)
PHILADELPHIA -- The American Civil Liberties Union today presented opening arguments in federal district court in its longstanding challenge to an Internet censorship law, ACLU v. Gonzales. The censorship law was signed by President Clinton in 1998 and has never been enforced.

ACLU of Ohio Successfully Defends Student’s Free Speech (04/27/2006)
HOLLAND, OH -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today applauded a decision by the Springfield School Board to reinstate eighth-grade student Jessica Schoch. Schoch was not allowed to attend school or participate in extracurricular activities after school officials discovered a MySpace.com profile that parodied a school administrator.

ACLU of Ohio Defends High School Student Expelled Over Parody Profile on MySpace.com (04/25/2006)
HOLLAND, OH- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said today that it will defend the free speech rights of a student who was expelled for posting a spoof profile on MySpace.com, an online social networking site used mostly by teenagers and young adults.

Free Speech Groups Demand Release of Florida Man Jailed Over a Web Site (12/22/2005)
LAKELAND, FL -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Free Speech Coalition and the First Amendment Lawyers Association today asked a state appeals court to release a Lakeland webmaster who was thrown in jail for allegedly posting obscene photographs on a Web site that is hosted in Europe.

Utah Businesses, Free Speech Groups and Individuals Challenge Restrictions on Internet Speech (06/09/2005)
SALT LAKE CITY -- Citing free speech and interstate commerce violations, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah today joined a broad based group of bookstores, artistic and informative Web sites, Internet Service Providers and national trade associations in filing a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Utah law meant to restrict children's access to material on the Internet.

ACLU of Rhode Island Releases Report on "Troubling" Internet Censorship in State's Public Libraries (04/19/2005)
PROVIDENCE, RI -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today released a report showing that public libraries in the state are impeding patrons' access to information on the Internet through the unnecessarily expansive use of so-called ""blocking software."" Calling the findings ""troubling,"" the 18-page report, ""Reader's Block,"" urged libraries to reassess the policies and practices they have implemented.