AOL lawsuit without merit

A federal lawsuit has been filed against AOL Time Warner alleging that America Online has allowed hate speech to go unsanctioned in Muslim chat rooms.\nThe class-action lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in Virginia holds that the Internet-provider giant has violated federal civil rights laws. It asks for an injunction requiring AOL to prevent members from sending messages contrary to its terms of service agreement, which bars hate speech. \nThe lawsuit cites the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations. An AOL spokesman dismissed it as being "totally without merit."\n"We have zero tolerance for hate speech on the service," spokesman Andrew Weinstein told The Associated Press. "When a complaint is brought to our attention, our staff reviews it, and can take action ranging from a reprimand to cancellation of service." \nAOL has more than 14,000 chat rooms dedicated to specific areas of interest to its members.\nThe plaintiff, Saad Noah, claims his repeated requests for AOL to clean up the "Koran" and "Beliefs: Islam" chat rooms were ignored. Noah, of Oak Crest, Ill., cancelled his membership in July of last year. \nAOL monitors its chat room for offensive comment, which staffers immediately delete. However tasteless and offensive these statements are, Weinstein is right in saying that the suit is without merit. The judge should immediately throw it out.\nIt would be a dangerous precedent to establish that the Internet is a "public accommodation" akin to a restaurant or hotel. On the contrary, it's more comparable to a public square.\nRestricting speech on the Internet -- even hateful speech -- violates the letter and spirit of the First Amendment. There is infinite real estate on the Internet, and Noah is perfectly able to establish his own forum where he can regulate content to his heart's content.\nAOL has no obligation to enforce what a single individual deems offensive. As an agent in a free market, it can be trusted to make such judgment calls. \nAnd while in a chat room, Noah is free to respond as he sees fit to what he considers to be tasteless affronts. He is free to provided a cogent and well-thought-out refutation to any mud-slinging. \nAfter all, ideas should stand or fall on their own merit.