Limits of Free Speech on Academic Networks

Csirmaz Laszlo <csirmaz@matisse.ceu.hu>

Kozep Europai Egyetem

Universities have always been proud of encouraging pluralism of political views. How far this tradition is maintained in the age of the new electronic medium, the internet? The lecture presents the case of Central European University: how the university's AUP (Acceptable User Policy) raised (political) theoretical questions about free speech and censorship; and what have happened in practice. An important conclusion is that besides fixing ethical rules and expectations, AUPs also highlight technical possibilities and legal problems (supposedly) well-known to system adminstrators.