Yr11 L5: Free speech + web (in)accuracy

See David Conn's analysis of an official report into the racism and other abuse footballers and clubs have received on Twitter and other social media.

Throughout this lesson we will explore and discuss the proposition that:

"People should be free to put whatever they want on the internet"

Download, save and use the Word document below (its also in the Citizenship/Yr11 folder, so you can also copy/paste into your My Documents). Type (or print + write) into this as we go.

L5 Free Speech Web Tasksheet

TASK ONE:
State whether you agree or disagree with the quote above, and write down one argument in favour of this AND one argument against.
FEEDBACK: We will take an initial vote on this and come back to it for a second vote by the end of the lesson.
We will also note down some of your initial points for and against the proposition.

A tweet claiming Wikileaks endangered lives

TASK TWO:
Click on one or more (ctrl+click to open in a new window or tab so you don't have to re-find this web page!) of the hyperlinks below and make brief notes on a recent case where the limits of free speech online have been tested.
WIKILEAKS accused of endangering soldiers' lives and national security: BBC article; Wikipedia entry; Daily Telegraph on Bradley Manning trial; Washington Post on threat from Wikileaks; has Wikileaks damaged Freedom of Information in the USA?; FreeBradleyManning.org on the question of whether his leaking endangered lives.
TOM DALEY - arrests over abusive tweets (D. Mail); controversial right-wing columnist Melanie Phillips argues this is censorship.
JAILED FOR REVEALING RAPE VICTIM'S IDENTITY ONLINE - Independent reports two charged over tweets in footballer rape case; Mirror report.

TEEN JAILED FOR FACEBOOK POSTS ON MISSING GIRL - Independent report.
ARRESTS FOR TROLLING GO BACK TO 2003 - digitalTrends.com reviews some of the major cases and issues. This is a particularly useful source.
FOOTBALLERS AND CHARGES FOR TWEETING - Ex-player Graeme Le Saux criticises twitter users. Joey Barton, repeat offender: Wiki; BBC; Guardian (includes censored strong language). Ashley Cole charged for criticising FA in tweet. Rio Ferdinand fined £45,000 for Cole choc-ice tweet.

TASK THREE:

You will be assigned one of the websites below. Follow the questions on the 'copymaster' worksheet, noting your answers in the same document as before.
1 CONSERVATIVE HOME BLOG: http://conservativehome.blogs.com/
2 TUC (TRADES UNION CONGRESS): http://www.tuc.org.uk/
3 GREENPEACE: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/
4 FAIRTRADE: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/
5 COMPASS (left-wing pressure group linked to Labour Party): http://www.compassonline.org.uk/
6 UKIP: http://www.ukip.org/
7 DEPARTMENT FOR MEDIA, CULTURE AND SPORT: http://www.culture.gov.uk/
8 TESCO: http://www.tesco.com/
9 CBI (pro-business group): http://www.tesco.com/
10 NICK CLEGG: http://www.nickclegg.com/
11 TABLOID WATCH: http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.co.uk/ 
12 HACKED OFF: http://hackinginquiry.org/ 
13 PEOPLE'S DAILY (CHINA) http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ 
14 THE SCRATCHING SHED (LEEDS UNITED BLOG) http://www.thescratchingshed.com/ 


TASK FOUR:

A quickfire research task: what can you find out about the so-called 'Great Firewall of China' in just 2 minutes... You could use these links: http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/ (see which websites are banned); the Wiki; Guardian editorial on why this is wrong; Guardian on why this won't work! (Is Russia going the same way?)

We will watch the video below after you've completed this quick task; do not play it just yet...


AND FINALLY...
A second vote on the opening proposition ("People should be free to put whatever they want on the internet")...
What have you learned today...
Have your opinions changed at all?


FURTHER RESOURCES:
QUOTES ON FREE SPEECH:
There are many sites that gather together quotes on this subject; here are just three:
Proverbia.net; BrainyQuote.com; QuoteGraden.com.

Web censorship in India.
US constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech: the 'clear and present danger' clause.
Should racist speech be banned? An argument against from the USA.
Killing to stamp out free speech? The case of Sri Lanka.
Janet Jackson and 'nipplegate': used to limit free speech?
SOPA.
Pirate Bay. Guardian article on why banning will backfire.

Derechos.org freedom of speech resources.
Dangers of blogging (Vietnam case).
Libya embassy killings: Mohammed film
Subjudice legal cases
Flame wars.