The Internet is the New Marketplace of Ideas: Why Riley v. California Supports Net Neutrality

Abstract

Technology has ushered civil liberties into the virtual world, and the law must adapt by providing legal protections to individuals who speak, assemble, and associate in that world. The original purposes of the First Amendment, which from time immemorial have protected civil liberties and preserved the free, open, and robust exchange of information, support net neutrality. After all, laws or practices that violate cherished freedoms in the physical world also violate those freedoms in the virtual world. The battle over net neutrality “is absolutely the First Amendment issue of our time,” just as warrantless searches of cell phones were among the Fourth Amendment issues of our time.