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Old wine in new wineskins: the First Amendment and the Internet.

Article Excerpt
Standing atop the amendments to the United States Constitution, the venerable First Amendment faces opportunities and challenges in the twenty-first century that were unimagined a mere two decades ago, much less two centuries ago.

The Internet, a public medium in terms of the creation and dissemination of information, now stands at the intersection of information and freedom of speech. In addition, the Internet as a medium of mass communication provides both challenges and opportunities for reexamination of the separation of church and state, a core principle of our Baptist heritage that impacts religion and public life at large.

Too whit, the first thirteen years of public Internet history (1995 to the present) call into question the survival of First Amendment fights as understood since their conceptualization in the very non-digital, late eighteenth century. During this thirteen-year span, previously unframed questions challenging the pillars of the First Amendment have arisen. At the same time, the introduction and growth of the Internet have provided new tools that have been utilized to both support and oppose First Amendment fights. On a positive note, the Internet enables new levels of public participation and interest in the rights covered by the First Amendment. Conversely, the new level of information dissemination empowered by the Internet parallels growing opposition to First Amendment rights. (1)

In order to understand the point at which the digital world intersects the sphere of the First Amendment, a cursory examination of the primary communication methodologies throughout human history is helpful. The spoken word (or oral tradition) served as the first human communication platform. Although sufficient in early ancient times, the spoken word was entirely dependent upon human memory in order for that which was verbalized to be recorded for use at a later time. Contracts, family history, and tribal myths remained at the mercy of the human mind and the biases, agendas, creativity, and loyalties that shaped the process of remembering.

The shortcomings of dependency upon the spoken word were obvious, and eventually humans transitioned to a more reliable communication platform: the written word. While verbalization...

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