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
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