The Values of Free Expression
Free expression in the United States has become an increasingly important topic, especially recently. With the attempted ban of TikTok, many individuals feel as though their right to freedom of speech has been infringed upon. The decision made by the Supreme Court to ban TikTok unless it is sold, is one that concerns people. Many of the Justices were not sure whether or not the First Amendment applied to shutting down a social media site. This idea and precedent established by the court could lead to more censorship or social media bans in the future. Throughout history and even in today's world, the battle for free speech continues. Free speech is incredibly important to the development of society.
The eight values of free expression come from the ideas of powerful thinkers and writers to outline the necessary principles that must be protected under the first amendment. In summary, these principles represent ideas such as the ability to express your opinion without censorship, self-governance, and holding both the government and other citizens accountable. These values help ensure our democracy not only continues to stay a democracy, but a place where people are able to express their opinions. Below, I have listed my top three values of free expression and my reasoning behind each one.
1. Protect Dissent
In our politically charged world, people are often victims of discontent from the suspected "majority" view of the nation. Publicly, there is pressure to abide by the democratic view and support all progressive movements. Any differing viewpoint is often shot down and the person who expressed their own opinion becomes a victim of cancel culture. The American people have the freedom and the right granted to them by the Constitution to share their opinions on the current government and the party that they align with. One example that stuck out to me came from our discussion in class regarding the idea of viewpoint discrimination. In Massachusetts, the Republican party is in the minority. One of my classmates discussed how he was not given a permit to hold a Trump rally by the state of Massachusetts. That is a clear violation of our first amendment rights. Not only is it a violation, it is allowing the "majority" in one state to stop their opposition from sharing their views. It encourages that "mob mentality" idea, allowing one view to dominate. In my mind, this is one of the most important values of free expression. No matter your political affiliation, you should not be punished for aligning one way or another. Allowing minority views is also how things change. Nothing would ever change in society, politically, technologically, or socially if someone had not shared a new point of view. Especially in the government. Starting all the way back in the 1700s, the Pilgrims escaped an intolerant government. Our country was founded on sharing our feelings to keep the government in check.
2. Promote Tolerance
Promoting tolerance is the second value that really stuck out to me. People, especially on social media have created this idea of being "woke". Anyone that does not abide by their idea of what is right to say is bad and should not have a platform to speak. Facebook and Twitter are known for the removal of "hate speech" or things that do not abide by their guidelines. Elon Musk was critical in restoring this idea of tolerance on social media platforms. W
hile there still are consequences for negative or hateful speech, the idea of completing banning someone from a platform was something he heavily disagreed with. Banning accounts is direct censorship, however, smaller consequences from the platform or the public are not. The idea from
Bollinger essentially says that allowing hate speech will ultimately teach us to be more tolerant and other ideas, but also that we will self regulate. People will face consequences for what they say if it is negative. John Mill also states that this idea of tolerance promotes the discovery of truth and that is is critical to have ideas that challenge what we know to incite change. The Constitution protects hate speech in order to keep conversations happening. This allows us to limit our government and promote change.
If hate speech were to become unlawful, conversations that are needed to retain a democracy would no longer be had. Overall, in order to maintain our democracy, hate speech must remain. Society will take care of the consequences. Additionally, it will allow everyone to realize there are multiple ideas on one topic, we will be more tolerant of these ideas.
3. Check on Governmental Power
The third value that stuck out to me was the check on governmental power. As we discussed in class, our freedom to discuss our displeasure with the government acts as part of the check-and-balance system. Not only are we able to discuss displeasure to incite change, but we are able to expose the wrongdoings of the government. Without this, government officials would be able to get away with many secretive acts. One of the examples that sticks out most in my mind was when Hillary Clinton's private e-mail account was exposed. The public would have never found out ab out this and no investigation would have been launched without the protection of the first amendment.
While the investigation did not reveal anything of great importance, it is our right to ensure the wrongdoings of government officials are investigated or exposed. Keeping our government in control and acting in the best interest of the American people is one of our duties. The Constitution specifically added in our ability to "check" the government to avoid infringements on democracy. Overall, in order to maintain a government that acts in our best interest, people must be allowed to share or expose the wrongdoings of the government. Even if it is not wrong, sharing the actions of the government allows for conversation to be had. People are able to form their opinions and then decide whether or not change needs to happen.
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