Abstract

This paper begins by examining the existing American and European approaches to online speech regulation and, more importantly, the territorial reach of such regulations. Next, I propose that there are fundamentally two ways forward. The first is to regulate online speech through the traditional power structures of sovereignty. In section D.1, I explore this option and conclude that any approach that relies on national or regional sovereignty will cause destabilizing international tension, because the speech regime will be wholly crafted by one jurisdiction and will thus lack legitimacy in the eyes of the excluded party. In section D.2, I explore the second option, an internationally cohesive online speech regime. Here, I examine three means of facilitating international discourse and ultimately propose an approach that draws on two of these options to varying extents. While this is functionally the more challenging approach, it is the only option that offers hope of a globally tolerable framework for online speech regulation.

How to Cite:

Rebecca Iafrati, Transnational Frameworks for Reconciling the Territorial Reach of Online Speech Regulation, 4 Ariz. L. J. Emerging Tech., no. 1, 2020, https://doi.org/10.2458/azlawjet.5500