Blog Post #3: 8 Values of Free Expression

     The eight values of free speech are fundamental in our everyday lives in our society, as they are the key component allowing us to speak freely. The values of free speech consist of the following: The Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check on government power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. Although each value is important regarding free speech in the United States, some of these values seem more compelling when used in our everyday lives.

    Out of all these important key values of our free speech, the one that resonates with me the most is Protect Dissent (Protect Dissent — see Steve Shiffrin, Dissent, Injustice and the Meanings of America). Protect Dissent allows all United States citizens to freely speak about their opinions and views on our country's government no matter how unpopular your opinion is compared to one another. 

    When it comes to my own personal opinions I like to believe that I am allowed to speak freely about them, since I am not physically harming anyone. Although The First Amendment expresses in many different ways that you have the right to voice your opinions, many people try to take away these rights when they disagree with what someone has to say against them or even when people decide to protest against something going on in the world. 

 With elections being right around the corner, it is important for many people, including the government, to remember that this aspect of free speech does exist. People tend to forget that even though some words that come out of people's mouths can be harsh, as long as it is not promoting violence or causing any harm it is allowed to be said freely.

 A great example of when this value was not protecting someone's free speech within the past few years is when Donald Trump had his Twitter account deleted. Twitter came forward with a statement explaining why they took this action to ban Trump's Twitter that said, "In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very cause of hard." Although Twitter believes they were doing what was best for the country by banning Trump's account, it was completely a violation of his First Amendment rights as a citizen of the United States, especially the value of Protect Dissent.

The two specific Tweets that caused Twitter to take action are as follows: 

 "“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!" 

“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”

    Although the timing of these posts followed the astonishing event in American history of the Capitol being stormed by protestors, these tweets made by Trump do not in any way, shape, or form say to go storm the Capitol. He is simply using his First Amendment right stating that he would be back before anyone knew it, and simply stating he would not be attending an event. Therefore, his value of Protect Dissent was taken away from him just because he had a voice that was heard by more people than others.

   

    When Elon Musk bought Twitter out and became the new owner, he granted access back to Trump as Twitter as many people in America began to bring up the fact that what the previous had done with Trump's account was unconstitutional. Musk's goal in investing in Twitter was to restore the factor of "free speech" that had been taken away by millions but especially taken from Trump in front of the public eye.

  All of this shows how important the First Amendment is to our people and society, and it shows how strong the value of protecting dissent can be, and how it is taken very seriously in America. I am a firm believer in the First Amendment and all the values that come along with it, and clearly, many other people feel the same way as Americans voiced how they felt about the whole situation of Trump getting banned. I feel it is important for everyone to freely voice their opinions when it comes to pure and hate speech because it is how we continue to evolve as a country and as citizens. 

    With the elections being months away from now, many people are going to take advantage of Twitter allowing free speech, and it is important to remember that everyone is allowed to voice their opinions as long as it does not enforce violence, even if you completely disagree with what they are saying.

    Every American citizen is protected to have their own opinions, so let us let Protect Dissent take its course and not be taken advantage of again in the future.