Great news out of Washington state: a federal judge has ruled that the First Amendment protects speech on the Internet, even from anonymous speakers, and even if it’s embarrassing. EFF has been fighting this statute for a long time. It’s a prime example of how sloppy approaches to combatting “cyberstalking” can go terribly wrong. As we explained in an amicus brief filed in this case by EFF and the ACLU of Washington, the law could potentially block the routine criticism of politicians and other public figures that is an integral part of our democracy. Online harassment requires careful and sophisticated solutions, but this law instead banned using all “electronic communications” intended to “embarrass” someone that are made anonymously or repeatedly or include an obscenity. It’s easy to think of a host of perfectly reasonable criticisms that could be criminalized by this vague and overbroad law: one politician…
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