ABSTRACT
Norms of individuals, which may be loosely based on normative legal theories, often lead to rules that are open to legal challenge. The Internet, for those who have adopted it, has become a social space where individuals can express compassion. The social theory of postmodernism helps explain the Internet within a context of a consumer society: "Consumer society has effectively displaced moral categories such as those based upon deference and thrift and replaced them with the hedonistic search for satisfaction". If law is to be seen as a social vehicle of control grounded in our understanding of communication, then laws regarding uses of the Internet as a tool of free expression need to be seen as human products. The chapter contrasts normative legal models such as the marketplace of ideas and potluck metaphors with social theories of conformity and empirical research on the Internet.
