Select a Free Speech Web Hosting Provider
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What is it?
A hosting service that allows a free speech Web site on their servers is a service that permits sites that deal with freedom of speech or freedom of expression issues. Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship, and that speech is guaranteed under international law through numerous human rights instruments. The most notable documentation is contained in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, implementation of these rights is stymied in many countries depending upon the form of government within any given country.
The term, freedom of expression, sometimes is preferred to describe the ability to discuss or to display various perspectives on a given issue. The reason behind this term’s use is that the right to free speech is not confined to verbal discussion, but can include the act of seeking, receiving, and imparting information and ideas. The Web embraces this ideal, although hosts and sites that promote free speech and offer formats to practice freedom of expression are subject to degrees of freedom – once again, depending upon the location of the Web host server.
Features
Very seldom will a Web site client discover a Web host that denies a freedom of speech or freedom of expression site, as those freedoms are considered a de facto use of any Web host in most industrialized nations. In this situation, restrictions or censorship is considered the exception rather than the norm. However, in the U.S., this nation places the burden for limitations upon individual states. Therefore, sites that originate from a state that places limits on freedom of expression may face consequences if that site owner isn’t familiar with that state’s stance on free speech issues. Some Web hosts feel more comfortable hosting sites that don’t generate controversy.
Several well-known and accepted restrictions and exceptions to free speech include limits to defamation and slander, obscenities, threats, subjudicy, defamatory or hate speeches (also known as “flaming” on the Web), the willful spreading of lies that cause widespread panic (shouting “fire” in a crowded theater, for instance), and treason, among other issues.
What To Look For?
If you plan to host a freedom of speech Web site, the best option would be to use a hosting provider within the U.S., as this country still maintains the least restrictive policies on free speech and censorship. With that said, the U.S. Government recently has tried to regulate certain acts and speech on the Internet. Since this country provides other countries with Internet filtering software, it is well prepared to use that technology to censor Web sites that originate in the U.S.
A free speech Web site carries certain responsibilities, and the Web site owner might consider a business structure and liability insurance that helps to protect the site owner and other individuals against possible lawsuits depending upon the direction the Web site takes. If an individual discovers that he or she has been slandered or libeled through a free speech Web site, it is entirely possible for that person to press a lawsuit against that site and its owners and even against anonymous users of that site.
