Free Speech and the Internet

Not too far in the past, newspapers and magazines dominated the media as the place to express one's views and opinions to a great crowd of followers, but today, readers are shifting to the Internet. Empowered by technology and access to technology, people feel driven to use the Internet to raise their voice on many issues, including commentary about government, public and private organizations, and have given rise to a genre of Web sites with a focus on disseminating information on controversial topics.

Wikileaks , for example, is an open platform for people to share secrets anonymously. The idea of this Web site is to expose the unjust policies, traditions and actions that exist in organizations, corporations, or governments, where these unjust activities prevail but are often hidden away from the public. Documents leaked on Wikileaks are heavily scrutinized by a global online forum, perhaps sometimes more thoroughly than by any media organization or intelligence agency.

Started in December 2006, Wikileaks maintained a low profile until it created a furor by bringing the corrupt actions of ex-Kenyan leader Daniel Arap Moi and his family into the public eye. The Web site reportedly gathered 1.2 million leaked and contributed documents in its first two years. In February 2009, the press was quick to mock the site  for having to leak one of its own internal documents containing the names and email addresses of 58 of its own donors.

A similar Web site is LiveLeak.com , which is known as the "YouTube of Leaks," and it has hosted such footage as the execution of Saddam Hussein and the dramatic rescue of Private Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Iraq. Its motto, “Redefining the Media,” hints at the rising trend of Internet-based, user-generated news. Although it encourages the posting of video, the Web site adheres to rules that check the content and the authenticity of the source before posting, and they do not publish content "deemed illegal in the U.S.," footage on subjects involved in criminal activity, or spam.

Aside from attracting high public interest, the wave of user-generated content on the Internet may cast a few shadows over the right to freedom of speech. Some efforts have been launched to further explore the risks and legal implications surrounding controversial Internet content. One such example is the article on Public Citizen Litigation Group  by Paul Alan Levy.

Wikileaks, LiveLeak.com, and other sites like them are taking the form of Internet vigilante justice. They are revolutionizing how we access information by empowering any person with the ability to expose a story. Considering the vast reach of the Internet, such Web sites are a powerful medium for revealing stories that might otherwise be kept undercover.

References

• Legal Perils and Legal Rights of Internet Speakers 
• Public Citizen Litigation Group (PDF) 
• WikiLeaks Forced to Leak Its Own Info 

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