In this week's class, I learned about the eight values of free expression. Our constitution's first amendment gives the citizens freedom of speech and expression. Though there are a few exceptions, this amendment has given generations and movements throughout the centuries a voice to criticize the government. All eight values are intertwined with each other, and I found it nearly impossible to pick the most important one. While the eight values hold tremendous importance to society and democracy today, the one that seems to be most relevant to society currently is protected dissent.
From the swearing-in of the new supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett to the inauguration of President Biden, people have expressed their opinions on a variety of platforms. Some agree, while others express their concerns and oppositions. The value of Protected Dissent supports all views, even those in the minority of an opinion. The people of the United States of America have a strongly protected right to disagree with our government.
2020 has been a wild year to say the least but was a prime example of the American citizens invoking their first amendment right of freedom of speech and the value of protected dissent. I have read many tweets about people expressing their dissent with the government and the way they handled the pandemic. I remember reading a tweet on my feed from a random person who called the government out and outwardly expressed their dissent for not following other country’s protocols and not immediately shutting everything down.
I have also seen a plethora of tweets from both friends and strangers who have disagreed with the stimulus checks. My peers thought it was unfair that they could not receive one since they were claimed as a dependent, while others thought the amount given was not nearly enough. Compared to other countries like Canada, American citizens were not getting nearly as much and many struggled (and continue to struggle) to make ends meet during these hard times. That being said, I think social media has played a crucial role in the value of protected dissent.
It allows people (for the most part) to express their dissent on various platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Social media has given a voice to anyone with a smartphone and an email address, and people are using it to its full advantage. There seem to be a few exceptions for people speaking out on platforms. If a user’s post violates the company’s policies, then the user’s post will most likely be deleted. The users have the right to use the platforms to use express their dissent with the government, but the companies have the right to take the post down if the user’s post violates the community guidelines.
Before I took this class, I thought that this rarely happened. After having only a few classes, I have learned that incidents like this happen fairly recently. Both parties are acting within their constitutional rights, and after reading some community guidelines of platforms seem to follow the same exceptions of the first amendment. Some rules not included in the first amendment include not using the platform for illegal activities like facilitating transactions of illegal goods and hateful conduct.
I don’t necessarily think that these rules are bad or take anyone's first amendment rights away. The guidelines say nothing about expressing one’s dissent with the government unless it’s threatening violence. People are still allowed to share their commentary and convey their dissent on these platforms for the government, even if their opinion is in the minority.
I provided links below of Twitter’s, Facebook’s, and Instagram’s community guidelines.