Communication Law

The study of Communication law has been nation specific for many years. However, freedom of speech, press, and censorship are different in different nations around the world, therefore creating different rules and laws in each nation. These different policies are carried out through the International Telecommunications Union, which looks at the rules relating to broadcasting around the world. Each country/nation has different policies, but the law has to differentiate how to pass the boundaries from country to country. 

One example of these issues deals with freedom of expression. According to Rodney Smolla, freedom of expression in a nation relates to open culture and how the particular country will defend human expression and conscience, which protects freedom of speech, press, religion, association, and human endeavor. If one were to look at the United States and the policies within its borders, one would realize that this is how the United States deals with citizens and their rights. However, if one looks at the international level of freedom of expression, it varies from nation to nation. 

Democracies in different parts of the world are not set up the same way as the United States. In the USA, expression can only be punished if injuries to people or property occur, libel or slander, fraud of advertising, copyright, and trademark take place. As Huffman and Trauth state, this laissez-faire attitude in America can be contrasted with Great Britain, Canada, India, Nigeria, and Germany. For example, in Germany there are very strict laws on extremist political speeches, which includes writing or broadcasting racial hatred and inhumane acts of violence. Other nations have also set up parameters on such expressions just as Germany has done. However, in the United States, it is still impossible for American citizens to conceive this occurring within their borders.