Speech Theories - Human Liberty & Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment protects our freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is defined by Google as the
right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. Freedom of speech covers more than just talking aloud. This includes the right not to speak, to use certain offensive words and phrases to convey a political message, to contribute money to political campaigns, and to engage in symbolic speech. 

In today's world, we have a new version of "speech" that congress has not covered. It is a difficult and unique situation in the 21st century. Social media is today's newest form of communication that reaches many people within minutes. Even though the First Amendment protects our right to speak, social media censors what we are not allowed to say. 

Most social media platforms have a set of guidelines that you are required to accept before using the app. These guidelines contain information about minor safety, bullying, harassment, copyright material, and violence. Of course, it's important to try to protect each other online, but how far is too far?

TikTok allows users to mute certain words or phrases in their comments to prevent inappropriate texts. Does this go against freedom of speech? Or is it okay because it's a privately owned application that individuals download freely? It may seem to violate the First Amendment, however, because of the guidelines against harassment, these acts are protected. 

Last year, former United States president Donald Trump tried suing Facebook, Google, and Twitter in a class action lawsuit for banning him on their platforms. While he deems this action unconstitutional, they reason that Congress cannot lawfully encourage private persons to censor speech if Congress is constitutionally forbidden from doing the same thing. Because Facebook, Google, and Twitter are private companies, they cannot violate the first amendment. Trump tried to argue that social media companies have increased from private status to "state actor" status, however, that point didn't help him in this particular case. 

Personally, I have faced censorship on social media and felt like it was a violation of my First Amendment rights. I often create my own content and post on Instagram and TikTok as an influencer. Posting frequently has opened my eyes to what is considered to follow "community guidelines" and what does not. If I try to post a video in a cropped shirt or bikini like many other influencers, my video is removed. This seems unfair because others can post what I cannot, however, TikTok uses terms like "minor safety" and claims to remove the content for other safety reasons. The users that get away with posting freely are the same people who have millions of followers.

 Although I'm not physically saying anything in the video, I believe the message still speaks for itself. I think creating content is a form of expressing yourself. This form of symbolic speech through self-expression is why it follows under the First Amendment and more specifically freedom of speech. 

As a U.S. citizen, it's part of my duty to speak up when I feel my rights are being taken. On social media, there is only so much you can do to try to stop censorship. You can appeal a video and deem it to follow the guidelines but you still have to wait for the platform to accept it. It's a difficult situation and there isn't really any single individual with who you can email or try to communicate about it. 

I believe to fix censorship on social media, someone should be put in charge of that position. Each company should have someone who deals with censoring others online and try to avoid it at all costs. As long as there is no hate speech, harassment, or bullying going on, there is no valid reason for removing the content. 

U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court in the country and the head of the judicial branch of government. As a member of the Supreme Court, their job is to evaluate laws and decide if it is constitutional or not. These nine justices also have the power to check the actions of the other two branches of government - the executive branch of the president and the legislative branch of Congress.

This information is not new to me, however, there are some facts that I was unaware of before learning more about the Supreme Court. For example, in the early years, the Supreme Court originally decided to meet on February 1, 1790, but due to transportation issues, the meeting was pushed back to the next day. When they met, they didn't discuss any cases but instead focused on working out organizational procedures. This was a shock to me because I expected the first meeting to discuss cases, not procedures. However, it makes sense that cases couldn't be discussed without order and procedure to do so. 

The most important takeaway to understand about the Supreme Court is it has the power to ensure people have equal justice under the law, and thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. Each law must go through the Supreme Court in order to be considered just or unconstitutional. It is the living interpretation of the Constitution and its role is to serve as the voice for the American people. 

The most shocking information I learned about the Supreme Court is about the Chief Justice. In cases where the Chief Justice is a member of the majority opinion, the justice has the authority to assign who will write the court's opinion. I didn't know this prior to when I learned about it because I didn't consider what would happen if the Chief Justice is a member of the majority opinion. This information was shocking because I didn't acknowledge this situation. 

The video made me realize how powerful the U.S. Supreme Court is. In the first minute of the video, the Supreme Court is called the most powerful Judicial body on earth. Their power rests on public faith in their independence and impartiality. 

I wish to learn more about the Supreme Court because I haven't had the opportunity to research these topics on my own. Prior to taking this course, I had not thought to study our government and it's role in our everyday lives. I now realize the role politics play in my life and how important it is to understand your rights as an American citizen. Moving forward, I plan to show more interest in the news and government activities. 

My News Media

 Social Media allows us to have various sources to obtain information. Research shows that a little under half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media. If this many adult Americans are getting their news from social media, what news are they hearing? How are these social media platforms presenting political or international information to others? Each person has their own unique version of each social media platform designed for them through cookies and tracking devices. This is how these platforms keep you hooked on their information, they know your interests better than you!

 I access my news through Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter. 

Instagram is a social media platform that focuses on pictures and short video clips for entertainment. People post things from images of their friends or cute videos of their dogs to news stories and politics. Some may only see Instagram as a source of amusement and not for news. However, there are plenty of accounts that post strictly news reports such as Fox News, Newsmax, and BBC News. 

I use Instagram for news because it's one of my most frequently used platforms for entertainment. I log in and see news stories along with entertaining videos. It is easier for me to comprehend politics and difficult topics when I can scroll past them and see a funny video after to lighten the mood. Instagram makes it easy to read or watch short news clips and then follow up with a wholesome video. 

TikTok is a different type of social media platform that is strictly videos. There is a new feature that was added this year called TikTok Stories which allows users to post a video or picture for twenty-four hours before disappearing. The videos people post vary from person to person. Each individual has their own "For You" page that shows you videos based on your interests and likes. There is a separate page to watch the videos made by users you follow. 

TikTok is my number one platform for news and entertainment. Although it may seem ridiculous to receive news through a sixty-second film, I enjoy the visuals and watching videos from the actual scene. Sometimes you will hear about situations that haven't been released in real news stories yet. Once again, there are certain users who post only news so you can follow them, or just liking a video will make more appearances on your For You page. 

Facebook is an older social media platform that isn't as popular among the youth as others. Here people post images, videos, and short texts about almost anything. There is a story feature like TikTok so you can post things for only twenty-four hours. Most adults use Facebook for entertainment but there are a lot of people that use it for news too. 

I use Facebook to learn more about what's happening in the world. I found that a lot of people will post personal or news stories that are important to hear. Sometimes the best news comes from the source directly. Facebook is not as popular with teens and young adults because it used to be more based on news and important information rather than funny videos. Now both news stories and funny videos can be found here similar to other social media platforms. 

Snapchat is another social media platform that is based on stories and quick pictures. This is an app for entertainment and communicating with other users. Snapchat is known for sending pictures back and forth with friends. However, Snapchat Stories is where you can find news and interesting pictures or videos. There are over hundreds of stories to click through and watch based on a variety of subjects. You can stick to just watching your friend's stories or you can explore different stories posted by all kinds of people.

Snapchat is a good source of news because the stories are short and to the point. The shorter the video, the more I enjoy listening. There is no extra time to talk about other subjects when the videos are limited to thirty seconds each. I enjoy seeing people talk about the news and give visuals to help demonstrate their points. Snapchat is different than other social media platforms because it's not all about posting your own content for others to see, it's about watching others and listening to them. 

Twitter is the final social media platform that I will mention. This platform is great for making quick and short tweets or texts. It's also used for posting videos and pictures with captions to give context. More teens are on Twitter than adults. It's often the fastest news source because of the easy access to a short post that only requires words rather than a video or picture. 

I don't use Twitter as often as the other social media platforms above. However, it is still a good source of news because a lot of people use it for that purpose. There are accounts you can follow to keep up with certain kinds of news or politics. You can also look at specific hashtags to find information. 

Overall, I think the best and most accurate news comes from a direct source but it can be difficult to achieve this. The next best thing is to look at multiple sources to understand different perspectives. Once you've checked your favorite sources for news, take a moment to think about it on your own terms. Interpret it how you believe it should be.