The First Amendment entitles all American citizens the right to free speech. Free speech is arguably the most important right we have as Americans. It gives us the opportunity to speak out freely without the threat of punishment. We are able to criticize the government when we feel like they are overstepping their authority in controlling our lives. The First Amendment specifically states that the government is not allowed to infringe on our right to worship whom or what we want to worship, we are allowed to peacefully protest if we feel a miscarriage of justice has occurred, and the press is supposed to be able to criticize the government without backlash. The last several years have shown that the freedoms The First Amendment provides might not be as iron-clad as we assumed. The federal government has used corporations, social media companies, and "the free press" to censor individuals who disagree with the decisions of "big brother."
The Eight Values of Free Expression are speech theories used to describe the vital importance of free expression in America. Every American should read these to understand how important it is that the government not be allowed to continue its attack on free speech. The theory that struck me as the most important and relevant one is the Protect Dissent Theory. This theory is found in Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America written by Steven H. Shiffrin. Shiffrin argues the importance of promoting opinions that are in opposition to mainstream views. He said "Americans should not just tolerate dissent. They should encourage it." People have to be willing and able to express opinions that are not popular. This is one of the only ways we can promote different ideas to the country. If we were not able to have unpopular opinions we would have never known of the possible origins of the coronavirus. The mainstream viewpoint was that the virus just came from a man who ate a bat in Wuhan. If you disagree with this viewpoint you were called a fool and banned from social media. Now we know that there is a possibility that the virus was man-made in a lab. Why would the government and the media censor this? Citizens are supposed to be able to express their opinions freely right? Unfortunately, as stated above the government is filtering what we are allowed to say. To me, this seems like a way to enhance group thinking. The more people blindly accept what they are told, it will be easier to control what they think in the future. The less dissent we have the fewer new ideas we will develop. If people are unable to think for themselves and have to be told what to believe we will create a society of sheep waiting for the government to tell them what to believe. Protecting dissent has to be one of the primary concerns of citizens and rising political actors.
Another value of Free Speech I find important during this hyperpolitical time is the Check on Government Power concept. This concept was written by Vince Blasi. In it he talks about how it is the press's responsibility to serve as a "watchdog" over the government, calling them out when they are doing wrong. Blasi says that a free press can “check the abuse of power by public officials.” This is a great concept when the press is interested in following it. Without the press, we most likely would not have known what was going on in Richard Nixon's White House in regards to Watergate. I am not sure if it has always been like this. but since I have been following politics, it does not feel like the press is actually interested in finding and reporting the truth. The press has become interested in framing narratives that support their political allies. A study done in May found that President Biden received just 19 percent negative media coverage in his first sixty days in office, by far the lowest in thirty years. In comparison, President Trump received sixty percent negative coverage in his first sixty days in office. The "free press" should not just have to but want to be diligent in criticizing both political parties. The American people do not have time to spend all day reading news that favors both political parties. There needs to be some way for people to get news from non-biased sources. Biased news is fine but not when all news is biased. The press should have an obligation to not just criticize the government but try their best to keep Americans informed. The Eight Values of Free Expression are vitally important to protecting The First Amendment. If people do not step up to the threat of blatant government overreach, censorship, and corruption, America will be living in a modern-day 1984 a lot sooner than we want to admit.
Link to the Eight Values of Free Expression:
Eight Values of Free Expression
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