Freedom of Speech    

The Czech Republic vs. The United States

Chris Henry, Jennifer Lemkul, Brian Maher, Max Moldenhauer, Mike Richmond

Conclusion

Recap of Scenario:

In 1996 it was discovered that a student at Virginia Tech had drug references on his Virginia Tech CSUGRAD web account.  The student claimed that other students had similar content on their pages.  The student brought two similar sites to the attention of Virginia Tech authorities.  All three students were punished by losing their CSUGRAD account privileges.  The original student had his account revoked for two months and was asked to redo his website.  The other two students had their accounts revoked for the remainder of the year and the content of their pages was archived.

The Dilemma:

Were the punishments that the three students received fair?  Were the punishments appropriate for the violations committed by the students?  Were the students’ rights to freedom of speech violated in any way?

Response from the United States:  

-“Inappropriate” site is taken down because network is private
-Student who turned in sites belonging to two other students gets reduced sentence

Response from the Czech Republic:  

-The Czech Republic’s response would probably be to accept the school’s decision to remove the site from the Internet.

-Many Czechoslovakians believe an assertive, independent attitude is often seen as foolishness and eccentricity

Final Commentary:  

Even though the laws regarding freedom of speech are similar in the Czech Republic and United States, the cultures and values are very different.  In the Czech Republic the censorship basically lies with the people because they frown upon inappropriate material.  In the United States, businesses and, in some rare cases, the government can oversee and place restrictions on what is published. One might conclude that the US has a more radical or liberal society.  This does not mean that everyone in the Czech Republic is conservative by comparison, or that everyone in the United States shares the same liberal views, but rather that they are general trends.  Over time these trends may change with new generations, new government officials, or specific incidents that may spark change.  

Home