Political Speech and the Law

Abstract

Abstract New tensions have emerged in the digital environment between political speech, privacy, and the need for security and for laws proportionate to the demands for information in a democratic society. The rapidity of technological change has governments, courts, and civil society groups worldwide scrambling to effectively adapt to new challenges, shifting constitutional provisions, laws, regulations, and practices of states. Protections for political speech include provisions for freedom of expression, speech, and the press, as well as protections for privacy and anonymity. In addition to more obvious forms of political speech such as election campaigns and political protests, contested forms of political speech include corporate and anticorporate speech and hate speech. Threats to political speech come in both direct and indirect forms, including antiterrorism laws, increased levels of surveillance, cybersecurity and cybercrime laws, various forms of defamation or libel, and intellectual property rights.