Internet Freedom

The reason this is such important legislation is that certain Democratic Party members have been seeking to regulate blogging. Particularly Democrats are seeking to regulate blogging during elections. The hypocrisy of Democratic is evident when they cry for civil rights action in regard to Privacy/NSA warrantless searches, yet attempt to limit the civil right of free speech - blogging - because it is a major hindrance to the left wing Party of no ideas during elections. Thank God for Bill Frist's action to shore up freedom on the Internet.
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Written by (Senator) Bill Frist, M.D.
VOLPAC Blog
March 10, 2006
SlantRight.com

Yesterday, I filed the Online Freedom of Speech Act as an amendment to the lobbying reform bill.

This morning, the House Administration Committee will mark up identical legislation. We expect the House to act as early as next week to pass this vital protection of free speech.

Thomas Jefferson once quipped that, “Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.” But despite his low opinion of the press, he also observed that, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

From the earliest days of our republic, freedom of speech and freedom of the press – be they anonymous pamphlets, celebrated essays, or local newspapers – were understood to be fundamental to the practice and defense of liberty.

Without the ability to convey ideas, debate, dispute, and persuade, we may never have fought for and achieved our independence.

Ordinary citizens – farmers, ministers, local shop owners – published and circulated their views, often anonymously, to challenge the conventional order, and call their fellow citizens to action.

Indeed, as Boston University journalism professor Chris Daly points out, “What we think of as reporting – the pursuit, on a full time basis of verifiable facts and verbatim quotations – was not a significant part of journalism in the time of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine… In historical terms, today’s bloggers are much closer in spirit to the Revolutionary-era pamphleteers.”

And, today, it’s bloggers whom we now have to protect.

There are some who, out of fear or shortsightedness, wish to restrict the ability of our modern day-Thomas Paines to express political views on the World Wide Web.

They seek to monitor and regulate political speech under the guise of “campaign finance reform.” They argue that unfettered political expression on the Internet is dangerous, especially during the highly charged, election season.

Needless to say, I stand firmly against these efforts to hamstring the Internet and squarely with the champions of free speech – whether that expression takes place in the actual, or virtual, town square.

Free speech is the core of our First Amendment. And the Internet represents the most participatory form of mass speech in human history.

It’s no accident that this technology was invented here in America. Freedom of speech is encoded in our DNA. It’s what allows us to be uniquely curious, daring and innovative.

And it’s no coincidence that Americans, steeped in the tradition of inquiry and rebellion, would give flight to yet another revolution on behalf of the principle we value most.

In an era where technology has made instant, unfiltered communication possible, I believe that the Congress has a fundamental responsibility to allow this new medium to flourish.

As an amateur blogger myself, and soon-to-be private citizen, I’m committed to ensuring that the extraordinary explosion of political debate in the blogosphere is protected from meddling bureaucrats and regulators in Washington, D.C.

I commented on this very issue on my own blog last week. Free political expression is not a narrow privilege but a fundamental right.

Back in April of 1999, when observers and commentators were only beginning to glimpse the rich potential of the Internet, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger posted the “Cluetrain Manifesto.”

In it they said that, “A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed.”

Since then, the conversation has only grown.

While authoritarian regimes like Communist China struggle to control the information crossing their borders, millions of private citizens, typing away on their home computers, are engaged in millions of discreet and overlapping conversations, exchanging information, and circulating ideas.

As Americans, we should be on the side of this dazzling development. As citizens of the 21st century, we should recognize we have no power to stop it.

Brian Anderson of the Manhattan Institute points out that the Supreme Court has extended free speech to include nude dancing, online pornography, and cross burning.

It seems only reasonable that free speech should include the humble act of posting a blog.

Written by Bill Frist, M.D.