Not only will privacy be rare on the Information Highway, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and other constitutional rights will be severely restricted there. Network operators will censor private e-mail and bulletin board postings. Instead of treating cyberspace as a new communications medium to which the U.S. Constitution extends, policymakers will regard it as special territory in which the Constitution has limited applicability. The Information Highway will be bad for democracy. In some fantasy world, perhaps, but not in this one.
True democracy involves discussion and deliberation and is slow by definition .
It requires debate, not just clicking on For or Against buttons. Instead of democracy, we'll get Oprahcracy. The Information Highway will be bad for children. For most Americans, the Information Highway won't be the Internet, but rather the services available through their set-top box. There will be no escape from it, even in places that were once sanctuaries from commercialism, like libraries, schools, and churches.