Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union introduced the internet to legal controversy under the First Amendment. Under the 1996 Communications Decency Act, the transmission of “obscene or indecent” messages and the transmission of content that describes “sexual or excretory activities or organs” in an “offensive manner” were both criminalized. These provisions were challenged and brought to the Supreme Court, where the regulations were ruled as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The court determined that the provisions were too broad and problematic for prohibiting “indecent” speech, which is protected under the First Amendment—unlike obscenity. The court also emphasized that internet publishing receives the same protections as the print press.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the majority that “it is true that we have repeatedly recognized the governmental interest in protecting children from harmful materials. But that interest does not justify an unnecessarily broad suppression of speech addressed to adults.”