ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that an article by Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky: 'Silencing John Doe: defamation and discourse in cyberspace'. Lidsky's article focuses on a category of US libel suits that grew rapidly with the rise of the Internet: actions brought by large companies against unnamed Internet-user defendants. The chapter focuses on a more serious challenge presented by Internet language: how we should think in future about language regulation online. Most current regulatory frameworks were introduced to respond to print discourse or developed in response to twentieth-century broadcast mass media; but they are now also applied to online language use. The promise of the Internet is empowerment: it empowers ordinary individuals with limited financial resources to "publish" their views on matters of public concern. The Internet is therefore a powerful tool for equalizing imbalances of power by giving voice to the disenfranchised and by allowing more democratic participation in public discourse.
