Because of the controversial (and sometimes defamatory) content posted on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, there are growing efforts to ban access or restrict content. Internet law professor Michael Geist contends that these efforts are misguided. I agree.

Social networking sites depend upon the free flow of information…the good, the bad, and the ugly. To artificially control the flow of this information undermines the very reason for their existence.

What about defamatory content? I’ve written about this issue previously: Are Fake MySpace Profiles Free Speech?

It is the responsibility of parents (not the government or schools) to control the behavior of their children. Where the parents drop the ball, there are judicial remedies for those who have been harmed because of what the kids have posted online.

Politicians need to keep their hands off of social networking sites in particular and the Internet in general. Nothing good can come of the heavy hand of government restricting speech online.

About the Author

With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 14 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young shows entrepreneurs how to protect and grow their businesses online. He's the author of "Internet Marketing Legal Secrets Revealed," "How to Create Your Own Internet Business Without a Lawyer for Under $175," and the creator of Website Legal Forms Generator^TM. Not just a lawyer who focuses exclusively on Internet and marketing law, Mike’s been working with computers for more than 27 years (his first computer was an Atari 400 with 8 KiB RAM) and started representing Internet businesses back in 1996.