American Civil Liberties Union

The Technology & Liberty Project monitors the interplay between cutting-edge technology and civil liberties, actively promoting responsible uses of technology that enhance privacy and freedom, while opposing those that undermine our freedoms and move us closer to a surveillance society.


ACLU Legacy Challenge

Freedom Files - Season 2
Ideological Exclusion

ACLU NewsfeedsACLU News Feed
ACLU Blog
ACLU Podcasts

Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Press Releases

ACLU Tells Committee That New Internet Law Blocks Protected Speech and Should Itself Be Blocked (04/04/2001)
The American Civil Liberties Union told a House subcommittee this morning that a controversial Internet blocking measure contains significant constitutional pitfalls and predicted that these shortcomings would sap intellectual freedom from the nation's libraries if the law is allowed to go into effect.

ACLU Files Challenge to Library Internet Censorship In Case Fast-Tracked for Supreme Court Review (03/20/2001)
Acting on behalf of public libraries, library patrons and website authors nationwide, the American Civil Liberties Union today filed a major legal challenge to a federal law that forces libraries to censor constitutionally protected speech online.

In First-Ever Challenge, CA Court of Appeals Upholds Library's Right to Provide Uncensored Internet Access (03/07/2001)
SAN FRANCISCO--In a resounding victory for civil liberties, an appeals court here has held that a parent may not force a public library to censor the Internet access of its patrons in order to control her own child's use of the Internet, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today. 

Cyber-Rights Groups Urge Federal Agency to Stay Out of Blocking Software Battle (02/15/2001)
NEW YORK--The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Privacy Information Center and Electronic Frontier Foundation today urged the Federal Communications Commission not to get involved in judging whether libraries are in compliance with a new law requiring them to install blocking software on public Internet terminals.

As ACLU Prepares Legal Challenge to Mandatory Internet Blocking, Consumer Reports Says Products Fail Test (02/14/2001)
NEW YORK--A new Consumer Reports test of blocking software confirms that a federal law mandating the use of these clumsy products in libraries is unconstitutional and unworkable, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

ACLU Will Fight Government Plan to Censor Internet in Libraries (01/19/2001)
One month after Congress passed a law pressuring public schools and libraries to install blocking or filtering software on computer terminals to screen out "adult" Internet content, the American Civil Liberties Union is gearing up to challenge the measure in federal court, Cyber Law Journal reported.

ACLU Urges Appeals Court to Protect Free Speech Rights In Landmark DVD Copyright Case (01/16/2001)
In a closely watched case that pits Hollywood's control over its digital properties against free speech rights, the American Civil Liberties Union today filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging an appeals court to protect the longstanding balance between copyright law and the First Amendment.

ACLU Promises Legal Challenge as Congress Adopts Bill Imposing Internet Blocking in Libraries (12/18/2000)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union said that it will soon launch a legal challenge to legislation adopted by Congress last week that would mandate the use of blocking software on computers in public libraries. 

Cyber-Rights Groups Join Forces to Oppose Anti-Privacy Cybercrime Treaty (12/13/2000)
An international coalition of cyberliberties and human rights groups today warned that provisions of a draft international cybercrime treaty pose a serious threat to individual privacy in the United States and worldwide.

Internet Must Not Become "Walled Garden" (12/13/2000)
WASHINGTON - High-speed access is the future of the Internet. But it will be a very different Internet if the few companies who will increasingly control the high-speed Internet access wires are allowed to decide what content we can receive or if they only permit their business partners to take full advantage of the improved technology. 

PA Court Establishes First-Ever Protections For Online Critics of Public Officials (11/15/2000)
PITTSBURGH -- In a ruling that establishes new protections for anonymous online authors, a state court judge here said today that public officials and others cannot use frivolous defamation lawsuits to ferret out the identity of their critics.

ACLU Gives Clients Green Light to Post Blocking Software Code (10/31/2000)
NEW YORK -- Based on a recent federal appeals court ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union today gave a green light to three Web site operators to post a program that reveals a list of Web sites blocked by Cyber Patrol software.

Citing New Government Report, ACLU Calls on Congress to Reject Internet Blocking Bill (10/20/2000)
WASHINGTON--Citing a new government report rejecting the mandatory use of blocking software, the American Civil Liberties Union today renewed its call for the defeat of a bill mandating the use of such tools on computers in public schools and libraries.

ACLU Urges Appeals Court to Reconsider Napster Ruling, Citing Censorship Effect on Internet Users (08/25/2000)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in federal appeals court here today, the American Civil Liberties Union is urging the court to lift an injunction against the popular music-sharing site Napster and to direct the lower court to hear evidence in the case before deciding the difficult issues presented.

Washington Court Upholds Student Free Speech Rights on Internet (07/18/2000)
OLYMPIA, WA -- In the latest victory for student rights in cyberspace, a county judge here today ruled that public school officials cannot punish a student for free speech outside of school. 

Appeals Court Rejects Congress' Second Attempt at Cyber-Censorship in ACLU v. Reno II (06/22/2000)
In a unanimous decision issued late today, a federal appeals court here struck down as unconstitutional Congress's second attempt to criminalize speech on the Internet.

Appeals Court Rejects Congress' Second Attempt at Cyber-Censorship (06/22/2000)
In a unanimous decision issued late today, a federal appeals court here struck down as unconstitutional Congress's second attempt to criminalize speech on the Internet.

Ruling in "Censorware" Copyright Controversy Leaves Clients, Consumers in the Dark, ACLU Says (03/28/2000)

ACLU Joins Fray Over Cyber Patrol "Censorware" On Behalf of U.S. Web Site Hosts (03/24/2000)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union will enter a Boston court this Monday to argue that a ban on a program allowing users to decode the Internet blocking software Cyber Patrol constitutes a "classic prior restraint on speech" in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Court Blocks WA School from Suspending Student Over Humorous Web Site (02/23/2000)
SEATTLE, WA -- In the latest case involving student free speech in cyberspace, a federal judge in Seattle today blocked school administrators from suspending a student because of a web site he had created on his home computer. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington represented the student in contesting the suspension.

Click to show/hide issues list
Your Local ACLUcongressional scorecardmultimediaforumspublicationssupport usstorecontact