Privacy, Online & Off

 Technology consumes our daily lives. We carry our cell phones with us everywhere we go and use our computers to do our jobs. Our relationship with technology has grown rapidly especially in the past decade. Furthermore, our digital footprint has become excessively larger as-well. 

From every post we like to every topic we google search is documented to profile us. Everything we put out onto the internet will always exist. This collection of data along with the new advances in technology can become a threat to our personal privacy. Our government has the ability to access this information and study our daily life. This is done just in case security issues arise but when does this collection of data cross the line. 

These issues make my daily life feel more exposed and stalked rather than private. It creates an environment where the average civilian no longer feels independent. Our federal government should not be able to have the personal details and daily schedule of someones life at their will.  To prevent this power from exceeding and continuing more in depth privacy laws should be put into place. 

These laws could be aimed specifically at social media companies and law enforcement. Setting these guidelines could specify which certain information can and cannot be collected. Furthermore, these laws could protect the average citizen from having their information being collected specially without their knowledge and consent. 

Some ways we can take this violation of personal privacy into our own hands is by becoming more aware of our presence on the internet. We must become more careful and dissect what we post out onto the internet. Questioning wether what we wish to post or like is really worth it can become helpful. 

We should continue to use tools like Face Time and Apple iMessages to communicate because they have been proven to more secure and not open to the government. Determining which information we wish to communicate online is the most important can save extremely personal information from being collected. 

More awareness about the threat to personal privacy is needed in the modern world. We can forget how easily it is can be for our personal information to be collected with out our knowledge. Taking a stand against these issues must continue and we must find a solution to create change. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

The first amendment holds a lot more power than just protecting our right to free speech than most people understand. It is important to understand how much this amendment covers so we can prevent times when this right is denied. After reviewing the eight values of free expression numbers seven and eight personally stuck with me. 

Jack Balkin in his work Living Originalism states that Promote Innovation says a community that values and protects free speech is likely to be more energized, creative, and interesting. This is because citizens are able to fulfill themselves. In todays world between the expansion of social media and rising tensions between political parties free speech is becoming harder to protect. 

Social media apps can remove content or ban users based on loose guidelines that can be harmful to a person's right to free speech. The line between controlling harmful content online and denying a persons first amendment right is becoming blurry. In March 2020 Waylon Bailey posted a Facebook message that he called a joke during the COVID-19 pandemic and was later arrested without a warrant by police. Bailey later sued for violations of his first and fourth amendment rights. This story is just one of many that have unfolded in the past years due to social media apps violating a users right to free speech. 

This rapid continuing threat is not only aimed at the average citizen but also political leaders and even Presidents of the United States. Recently, the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's federal election criminal case reinstated a gag order. A gag order is when a judge prohibits the attorneys, parties, or witnesses in a pending lawsuit or criminal prosecution from talking about the case to the public. 

The former president argued that the ruling infringed on his first amendment right to free speech. This recent violation is extremely important and needs awareness due to its timing. This ruling was created just in time for the upcoming of a new election and this limits former President Trump from discussing the case on his campaign trail. 

The second value of free expression that I felt a strong connection to was Protect Dissent. Steve Shiffrin in his work Dissent, Injustice and the Meanings of America describes Protect Dissent as that our system is not suppose to be one of mob rule and the First Amendment protects minority views. He states further that we as citizens have a right to disagree with the government and we almost have a patriotic duty to. A major issue that our society has adapted is the pointing of fingers and diminishing the act of disagreeing. 

We have created a societal rule that you must agree with the majority and cannot speak against it. The heavily two sided political party system can be one of the many to blame. In todays world of political affiliation we are pressured to just pick one side and hate the other. We are not encouraged to look at both views and meet in the middle. These acts create division in our country and only push us back not forward. 

To continue the protection of the First Amendment we as the citizens must first take a stand. We must acknowledge the importance of one's right to free speech and the severity of it being violated. We must take these concerns to the news and social media to bring awareness and prevent further incidents online. 

As the citizens of our country we must keep the government in check and encourage disagreeing. We must not only encourage it must make it normal and a good thing. Finally, we must come together and destroy the mob like mentality and hatred when it comes to political parties and discussing the future of America. 

https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/5th-circuit-finds-facebook-post-protected-speech-not-incitement-or-a-threat/ 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/29/politics/trump-gag-order-reinstated/index.html

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/gag_order#:~:text=Primary%20tabs,the%20case%20to%20the%20public. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/24/tech/states-sue-instagram-parent-meta/index.html

Top Five Sources of News

 When reflecting on my personal news consumption I found that look both into social media posts and professional news sources. As a young adult like the rest of my generation I am always on my phone and social media. Social media apps like TikTok and Instagram are the first places where i most of the time will hear about headline or story. This is because of how fast posts and trends circulate these two platforms. I enjoy the speed at which I receive news on social media apps and it makes me feel more in touch with the news. However, one of the major issues with receiving news from social media platforms is misinformation. Due to this issue once I hear about a story on TikTok I will take it to the Internet to look up further information from more professional new sources. 

Associated Press News is one of the few professional new sources I
will view when researching a new story. I view Associated Press for news because of the multiple news stories they provide. Another reason to use this new source is because it provides multiple global stories not just ones that involve America. Staying in touch with what is going on in America is important. However, understanding what is going on around the world is even more. 

Another source i get my news from is from word of mouth. Especially since I am a college student living on campus I mainly hear about topics from others. This either through my close friends, my sorority sisters, or classmates. Another way i hear news is through my family as well. My parents will send me articles through our group chat when there are major events occurring. 

Apple News is also another source where i receive my news. I enjoy Apple News due to how it sends notifications to my laptop and phone when major news stories begin to trend. I prefer these notifications  because they are only when breaking news is circulating. If these notifications were sent out every hour I would not enjoy them because it would then come off as more spam alerts. When I find myself with nothing to do I will casually open Apple News and scroll to review what is being reported. 

Finally, I get some of my news through Daily News by Spotify. daily News is a podcast created by Spotify that gives you a daily report of the news. This podcast can be added to your other playlist so while switching between songs you can get a small debrief of your daily news. I really enjoy this feature because i listen to music almost all the time when either going to class or in the car and this is a great way to subtly get reported on the news. 

The Supreme Court

 After watching the video and article regarding the history of the Supreme Court I learned a few new things that I did not know before. I learned that the court was established in 1789 by Article Three of the Constitution. Furthermore, I also learned that the court had its first meeting on February 2, 1790, but it did not actually hear any cases till after its first term. The court’s early meetings were mainly focused on working out organizational procedures. When regarding certain cases in the Supreme Court I learned that the court denied citizenship to African American slaves in 1857 during Dred Scott v. Sandford, upheld state segregation laws in 1896 through Plessy v. Ferguson, and upheld World War II internment camps for Japanese Americans in 1944 during Korematsu v. United States. 

Personally, I believe the most important take-away point about the Supreme Court is that the highest judicial officer in the nation, the chief justice is responsible for presiding over the Supreme Court. Not only do they oversee the rest of the justices they must also set the agenda for the justices’ weekly meetings. When there are cases where the chief justice happens to be a member of the majority opinion, the justice then has the authority to assign who will write the court’s opinion. Furthermore, the chief justice also presides over impeachment trails regarding the President of the United States.

The most surprising thing I learned in the article was that for more than 100 years after the foundation of the Supreme Court the justices were required to hold circuit court twice a year. However, due to the traveling methods at the time and distances this was formally abolished in 1891 by Congress. I found this to be interesting because it demonstrated the commitment a justice especially at the time would need to have.

After watching the video and reading the article I believe I have become more educated about the Supreme Court. Before diving into these sources I really had no knowledge of the history behind the Supreme Court or how the justices operated in detail. I now have a more in depth understanding of the Supreme Court and it's importance in our federal government.