Free Expression

Blog Post #3, KEY POST 

Freedom of expression is one of the greatest qualities of American's freedom thanks to the founders of our country, who made it a point to have a foundation based on autonomy in the field of expression and beliefs. The United States has endured a great deal of polarization and has recently faced lots of controversial instances in which having the ability to have your own beliefs is highly important. When building an understanding of the First Amendment it is helpful to look at the eight speech theories that offer the frame work for the concept free expression.  

Out of the eight values of free expression, number eight, "protect dissent" resonates with me the most. Steve Shriffin breaks down this concept in his book "Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America". Protect Dissent highlights the value of  not always being in agreeance with the majority as minority views are just as important. In addition "protect dissent" states it is one's right to disagree with the government as this plays into checks and balances. Having grown up in such heated political climates, such as the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, I have experienced moments in which my opinion has not always aligned with those around me. However, having the opportunity to still hold my opinion regardless of it not coinciding with the majority opinion has allowed me to continue to have my own fair assessment of our government as a United States citizen.

The two values I find to be most relevant today are,"protect dissent" and "promote innovation". "Promote innovation", states that a society that embraces freedom of speech is more likely to be creative and embrace diverse ideas. A current event that these two values pertain too is the Missouri v. Biden case. According to the New Civil Liberties Alliance , during the investigation for this case evidence was found that proves the White House pressured companies to put covid censorship policies into effect. As a result of this, the experts such as doctors and scientists were not able to reach the public with extensive information that paints the full picture. When connecting this current event to the concept of promoting innovation, it is important to take into account how crucial creativity was during this time.  Doctors and scientist should be able to reach each others work and build off of one another's findings, yet this was not the case as there was a limitation on what they could go public with. 

In terms of "protect dissent", people's right to disagree with the government was violated as Rob Flaherty, the White House director of digital media pressured facebook into promoting the censorship. The issue with this was it was conveyed as "view point censorship", in which this is viewed as unlawful. During Covid-19, the nation faced a period of first amendment violation in which values that are conveyed in the 8 speech theories were contradicted. As citizens it is important to be aware of the 8 speech theories as these core principles encourage the concept of freedom of expression.