Is non-violent, but bigoted hate speech online Constitutionally protected?
Yes, as long as it does not cause, threaten, solicit, or conspire criminality. In June 1997, in the case of Reno v. ACLU, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that had far reaching implications for hateful and other controversial websites. The Court voted 7-2 to invalidate two sections of the Communications Decency Act, a new law that among other things, punished the knowing transmission of various types of obscene, patently offensive or indecent messages in a manner in which minors might view it. The Court held that the Internet was a form of communication that enjoys the widest protection from government censorship or punishment. The justices rejected the government’s contention that the Internet should be as highly regulated as broadcast radio and television, and in particular rejected the application of an indecency or offensiveness standard to Internet communications. The Court found that using indecency or offensiveness as benchmarks for restriction on Internet communi
