How much freedom of expression should people have on the Internet?

     Freedom of speech on the Internet. It's a widely discussed topic. It certainly has its advantages as well as its downsides. What are they?

     In reality, the pluses of Internet freedom don't differ much from those of the freedom in real-life. For instance, the web can be an important tool for criticizing laws or governments. It can raise public pressure and make politicians look into certain issues. This fact is crucial in countries with strong censorship like Russia or Iran – there, the Internet is often the only place where people can truly express themselves.

     Nevertheless, freedom on the Internet is also useful for other things besides politics. You can freely read and write blog posts or comment on any topic imaginable, not to mention the fact that it's possible for anyone to communicate with hundreds of millions of people from all over the world.

     That exact ability is also where the biggest danger of the Internet lies. Since your identity can be hidden, you can talk with anyone anonymously. This feature of the world-wide web gets misused the most. Not only is it used by trolls, but it serves as a great tool for pedophiles, hackers and other types of criminals.

     Overall, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons in this case. In my opinion, the status quo is mostly alright and people shouldn't be given any more (nor any less) freedom on the Internet than they currently have. The police are also rapidly increasing their effectiveness in fighting against online crime and that's another reason why I think the freedom of expression on the Internet should not get reduced.

                                            Mário Ondovčík (III.B)

Chapter 1

     The night when it happened, the sky went black. It was raining heavily and a roll of thunder was echoing through the town. Joseph Brooks fell asleep while waiting for his wife. That night was much longer than any other night.

     The next morning the sun crept in through the window and woke up Joseph. He couldn’t find his wife anywhere. He got scared. Maybe she was in the backyard, he thought. But when he came there, his heart stopped. He saw his wife half buried in the ground. He ran to her and checked her pulse. She was dead. After a while, he called the police. They announced it was a homicide and started questioning Joseph. He told them everything he knew.

     “Did she have any enemies?’’ the investigator asked.

     Joseph hesitated. Someone popped into his head, but she wouldn’t, would she?

     “There is someone but I am not sure.’’ he said.

     “Who is it?’’

     “Well, it is her sister Jessica, my former fiancée. She holds a grudge against us because I left her and started living with Mary. But it was months ago. I mean…she couldn’t. It is just impossible.’’

But the investigator thought that this could be a motive. They went to see her. They asked Jessica where she was the day before.

     “I was home all day, why?’’ she answered.

     When they told her what had happened she was shocked. A few more questions came but it wasn’t enough. Mary looked innocent. The police left and waited for the lab results.

     In the meantime, Mrs. Cooper, an old lady, came to their office and said that she was the neighbour of Joseph Brooks and she had seen Jessica Drake the previous day wandering around his house. Jessica had to lie to them then about being home all day. After the lab results came they were sure that she was the one who killed Mary. The gun which was owned by Jessica matched the bullet which killed Mary. Now the police had evidence against her and could arrest her. They went to her house and knocked on the door. No one answered. They kicked the door open and burst inside. When they spotted Jessica they put handcuffs round her wrists and took her to the police station. She remained silent the whole time not admitting what she had or had not done.

 Chapter 2

 Two days ago

     It was a normal day in Dartford. The clouds were covering the sky and soon it would start to rain. Jessica Drake, tall blonde woman with strong arms and legs, was sitting in her garden, drinking black coffee and waiting for her sister Mary to come. Mary called her the day before and told her that they needed to talk. Jessica was a little nervous. She didn’t want to see her or talk to her. Not after what she had done. After a few minutes, Mary showed up. She was the absolute opposite of her sister. Short, thin and with beautiful long dark hair. Mary nervously came closer to Jessica and greeted her. It started to drizzle. They went inside and Mary began to talk, but Jessica couldn’t listen to her. She couldn’t think about anything else but what her sister had done to her. At that moment, all rage and anger came to the surface, Jessica took her gun out of the drawer, raised it and pulled the trigger. Mary fell down on the floor and Jessica just watched her sister die. After a few seconds, she realised what had just happened. She screamed and bent down to Mary. Tears filled her eyes and her head started to spin. Mary was gone. But what now? She couldn’t call the police and tell them the truth. She took a long slow breath to calm down. A crazy idea came to her mind. She loaded the body into the trunk of her car, started the engine and drove two streets down and then turned right. Jessica went to the backyard of Joseph Brooks, took the body and a shovel. The ground was wet so it was harder for her to dig out a hole. She wasn’t thinking straight. The only thing that was on her mind was to get rid of the body. She buried her sister and it felt horrible. But she couldn’t go back and change it. She looked around and didn’t see anybody. She went back to her car and drove quickly home.

Chapter 3

     When Joseph heard all the evidence against Jessica, he was sure she had done it. She would be prosecuted for the murder of Mary and he wanted her to rot in jail for the rest of her life. But Jessica of course hired the best attorney in town to defend her and said nothing.

     The day, which Jessica dreaded the most, came. She stood trial for killing her sister and she had to face a jury and try to convince them that she hadn't done it. When she stepped into the courtroom all eyes landed on her. Everyone thought she was guilty. The judge came in and the trial began.

     “Jessica Drake, you are accused of killing Mary Brooks, please stand up and tell us where you were on the fourth of July.’’

     “I was home all day by myself. I haven’t seen my sister for weeks. I plead not guilty.’’

     But then the prosecutor stood up and told the jury and the judge, “I have evidence that Jessica Drake is guilty. She has no proper alibi and she owns the gun which killed Mary. We also know that she hated her sister because of Joseph, her ex fiancée who left her to go live with Mary.’’

     Then Mrs. Cooper was summoned and said she had witnessed Jessica Drake to be near the Brook’s house the evening Mary was killed and buried there. The evidence against Jessica was overwhelming. The jury took less than an hour to reach their verdict. Jessica was convicted of killing Mary and was sentenced to ten years in prison. After the trial, Jessica started to cry and she confessed to the murder.

     “It was…an accident. I…didn’t do it…on purpose.’’ she said between sobs. But it didn’t change anything. With puffy eyes and runny nose she was taken to prison where she would have to sit her punishment out.

 Monika Polačeková (III.D)