The Eight Values of Free Expression closely corresponds to the First Amendment. These speech theories essentially state why Americans should be free to express themselves in multiple ways. Below are a few theories that I believe are most important:
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| TikTok |
Marketplace of Ideas:
John Milton suggest that when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely grapple, truth will win out. And the grappling makes the truth even stronger.
Currently happening in the United States, is a debate to ban TikTok. The TikTok ban is a bill that was passed by the House of Representatives March 3rd, 2024. According to the House, "if China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake, as lawmakers acted on concerns that the company’s current ownership structure is a national security threat". The bill is now on the way to Senate where a decision is yet to be made.
This theory is important to me because the government should not be controlling what apps or websites citizens can access. TikTok is a source for entertainment, news outlets, a platform for creators, and even serves as a community for small business owners to promote their business. Banning TikTok would cause a major backlash as some are losing money due to using their platform as their job while others losing their main source of entertainment. This app allows people to be themselves as well as being creative in their own ways.
Protect Dissent:
Steve Shiffrin suggest that our system is not supposed to be one of mob rule. The First Amendment protects minority views, no matter how unpopular. You have a strongly protected right to disagree with the government as well as everyone else. In fact, it is our patriotic duty to criticize the government.
It is well known that former President Donald Trump criticizes the government. After the January 6th, 2021 incident, the government has been quick to charge the former President with all different kinds of charges and accusations. Currently the Supreme Court ruled that States cannot remove Donals Trump off the ballot which elections coming up soon. It is a big debate on whether the former President's speech violates the First Amendment. Donald Trump's speech on Jan. 6, 2021, was pure speech and was protected. This theory is important because its known that the government did not like the speech Donald Trump gave. His biggest point was how the election from that year had been rigged. When searching online you can find that half of the Americans believe the same things as the former President. So why is the government only going after one person?
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| Donald Trump Jan. 6, 2021 Speech |
This theory brings me back to the term prior restraint we learned in class. Prior restraint is when the government stops you from speaking or writing before you even have done it. I believe this is the exact problem currently happening with Donald Trump. For quite a while the government took measures to ban Trump's twitter account so he was not able to voice his thoughts. Connecting back to this theory you are protected by the First Amendment to criticize the government which what Donald Trump is doing.
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