OP-ED : Nikkolas Moffett

A position paper arguing that "The unregulated freedom of speech on the internet

results in the unfortunate treatment of women and the Constitutional value is therefore not gender-neutral in application."

INTRODUCTION

There is an intoxicating effect the American Constitution’s values of different freedoms have on the public. We are romanced by the promise of free speech and believe that this document will be followed religiously. However, once one investigates the ways freedom of speech is interpreted and implemented onto the internet, there is a clear injustice to populations including women and cultural minorities. The unregulated freedom of speech on the internet results in the unfortunate treatment of women and the Constitutional value is therefore not gender-neutral in application.

BACKGROUND

This essay will operate under the assumption that the main intention of the Constitutional right of free speech is to be applied to all Americans equally with as little bias as possible for different characteristics of an individual or a population.

The inception of the internet shows humble beginnings with the Declaration of

Independence of Cyberspace. The manifesto seeks to highlight the opportunity the internet can provide such as “ creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth” (Barlow, 1996). John Barlow’s claims are what humanity hoped would be the outcome of an empowering outlet for the individual but hate groups and trolls have shattered those rose-tinted foresights of the internet. Instead, humans have exceeded the standards of extreme obscenity and psychologically harass targeted individuals for personal pleasure and nefarious motivations.

SUPPORT EVIDENCE

Carrie Goldberg dispels the neutral platform argument of the internet through her

multiple examples of female victims of male harassment on the internet. Online personas such as Obnoxious were able to plague victims who did not fulfill his promiscuous desires such as Allison Henderson. Obnoxious using “phony reports” to mobilize police units shows the amount of power one has to harass someone’s life (Goldberg, 2019). The length and reach of Obnoxious’s actions were enabled by the power of the internet to prey on the unsuspecting women populations and is one of many occasions where men are able to terrorize women into achieving an end state emotional trauma.

Next, there is the existence of Andrew Anglin’s Stormer Troll Army which boasts a

white supremacist agenda to crush the morale of minorities. This is seen in Anglin’s online attack of Tanya Gersh where the troll army targeted a Jewish woman on the basis of misinformation as well as terrorizing the first black female president of American University, Taylor Dumpson (Goldberg, 2019). Both these cases feature women of cultural minorities being violently harassed by white supremacists who use the power of the internet to facilitate organized attacks. These examples showcase how the landscape of the internet favors the harassment of women by hateful groups of bigots and furthermore demonstrates the lack of neutrality that the first amendment is supposed to embody.

Katie Manne (2019) describes the expectation of women to perform duties to the mens’ demand as a waitress who is multitasking and expected to deliver excellent service at any point in time. This analogy encapsulates the struggle women bear and is part of the explanation for why men respond to irregular behavior of women. Our class talked about this concept of misogyny as a mode men take when women transcend the age-old boundaries of domestic work and emotional caregivers. In a way, women are restrained and discouraged from becoming a truer individual which gives support to the chilling effect seen on women’s freedom of speech on the internet and the professional world.

ADDRESS COUNTER ARGUEMENTS

Although there is a clear violation of gender-neutral freedom of speech on the internet, some may say that it gender-neutral since males also face harassment on the internet therefore making a level playing field. There was talk about how corporations like Twitter were silencing public figures like Donald Trump after the Capitol Riot of 2021, Twitter stated that @realDonaldTrump was in “violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy” and was permanently banned from using the platform (Twitter inc, 2021). Although this is a silencing of speech, there is a clear violation of rules outlined in the terms and conditions of the platform. This case is in stark contrast to the innocent victims of Allison Henderson, Taylor Dumpson, and Tanya Gersh where those whose right to free speech was violated were innocent victims.

CONCLUSION

Gender-neutrality in theory sounds like an amicable trait of the freedom of speech but with the immense power of unrestricted speech individuals experience on the internet, all hopes of civil dialogue and humane interactions are dashed. All in all, the freedom of speech has not demonstrated a gender-neutral appeal on the internet due to the many cases of extreme harassment towards women.

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Barlow, J.P. (1996). A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. Davos: Electronic

Frontier Foundation. Retrieved January 31, 2022 from https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html

Goldberg, Carrie (2020). Nobody's victim: Fighting psychos, stalkers, pervs and trolls. VIRAGO Press LTD.

Manne, K. (2019). Down Girl: The logic of misogyny. Penguin Books. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from www.oxfordscholarship.com.

Twitter Inc. (2021). Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump. Twitter. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension