Should Social Media Silence Its Users?

    Last month the Texas state senate approved a bill that relates directly to what we’ve been learning about the Six Clauses of the First Amendment and the Eight Values of Free Expression. The Republican senator, Bryan Hughes, who sponsored the legislation, accuses social media companies of silencing free speech in violation of the First Amendment. This new bill would stop giants such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter from blocking, banning, or discriminating against Texas users based upon their viewpoints. It would also require social media companies to publish policies regarding content removal, while creating an appeals process for content that has been taken down. This proposal seems to be in response to Twitter’s deletion of more than 70,000 accounts of conspiracy groups that were connected to the attack on the US Capitol.

    Hughes also states that since social media companies are private organizations, they are exempt from first Amendment violations enforced by the government. He believes that liberal Democrats are behind the decision of Facebook and Twitter to remove the conservative opinions of Texans on those platforms. Even Texas governor Greg Abbot supports the bill, stating that social media is leading a “dangerous movement to silence conservative ideas”.

    I have mixed feelings about this bill, as I do agree that social media has a generally positive impact on society, promoting Tolerance, Stable Change, and Discovery of Truth. However, even though the First Amendment guarantees many freedoms, it does not protect “fighting words” that I often see on social media, which can agitate dangerous people and disturb the peace.

    On the other hand, I know from personal experience the great power that social media companies have 

over people’s accounts. For example, my brother’s Twitter account with 35k followers was unexplainably 

taken down last year, and there was no way for him to contact Twitter to ask why. Also, a film director I 

know had his entire YouTube channel taken down, also without explanation. These two individuals were 

extremely frustrated because there was no one to call, email, or even chat with online about the removal, 

which had a direct impact on their livelihood. So I do agree with the bill’s language that there should be a 

way to appeal directly to social media companies.

 

    This new legislation in Texas sheds a light on what, if any, impact the First Amendment should have on 

social media. It opens an important debate about difficulties of online content, what to allow, and where 

the limits of free speech should be on these changing and growing platforms of communication.

US Supreme Court- My New Perspective

    After watching Parts I and II of the video, I learned several new things about the Supreme Court of the United States. I did not realize that the court has to wait for issues to be brought to them, and they receive thousands of petitions every year but only accept one hundred. I also did not know that anyone can petition the court, from a prisoner to the President of the United States. 

    The most surprising thing I learned is that there have been just over 100 Supreme Court justices in the country’s history, at the time the video was recorded. I thought it would be many more than that, but justices often hold their position for decades (the average is sixteen years). I thought the most important take away point is that the United States Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial body on Earth.

    After listening to the interviews with the justices, the video changed the way I think of the Supreme Court because it made me consider them as individual people instead of unrelatable, unapproachable figureheads. At first some of them admitted that they felt overwhelmed and strange to be a Supreme Court justice. It could take years until they feel comfortable there, and they even sometimes get nervous or frustrated. These interviews were an interesting way to end the video, because while Part I focused on the court’s tremendous power and responsibility as a while, Part II showed that the Supreme Court is made up of men and women who share the same objective to uphold the United States Constitution, even if they disagree on fundamental issues.

8 Values of Free Expression

After learning about the 8 Values of Free Expression, the ones that I find most important are Stable Change, and Protect Dissent. To begin with, these two values are closely related because they both connect to speaking out against the government. “Stable Change” is the idea that if people are allowed to speak their mind freely, they are less likely to be violent. The government can then “better monitor potentially dangerous groups who would otherwise act more clandestinely”, as stated in my notes from class. Similarly, “Protect Dissent” allows people to speak out against the government without penalty. Both of these values serve to improve the government by allowing everyone’s ideas to be heard no matter how unpopular.

I experienced an example of Stable Change in the summer of 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement. This was a social movement protesting police brutality and violence against black people. People and organizations from a variety of backgrounds demonstrated safely while advocating for policy changes in the United States. These angry citizens were allowed to speak their mind freely using words and signs during marches throughout the country. These demonstrations were often held in public places where the government could monitor their actions without interference. Personally, I participated in a Black Lives Matter protest march that occurred directly on the main street of my hometown. I felt this was a safe, supportive environment for people to express their opinions without being concerned with interference from the government. In fact, local officials, such as our Mayor and high school principal gave speeches at the event, encouraging citizens to continue this movement. 

I often notice the theory of Protect Dissent on social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Although social media makes it easier for people to be rude, bullying, and offensive to one another, it also is a platform for citizens to express their disagreement with the government however unpopular it may be. There is a person I follow on Instagram who creates daily posts on their story about their concerns that the government is spying on them. They criticize the government for viewing the movement of Americans, using satellites and street cameras. Even though I disagree with this theory, and it may be unpopular in general, they have every right to express their concerns on social media. Criticisms like this can actually improve our society because they get people to think about theories that they would have not considered if one person did not bring them up. 

Free expression is something we take for granted in the United States, but not all countries around the world protect the speech of their citizens. I believe that Stable Change and Protect Dissent are important ways to resolve conflict without violence, while allowing individuals to express their opinions with government affairs. This not only helps educate the public about society's concerns, but enables the government to understand people’s ideas and opinions. This results in a more stable democratic government, which benefits all the people of this country.

                                                        

5 Sources of News

Morgan Schragger 

Professor Smith

COM-1450-02

March 17, 2020

                                                                  5 Sources of News

In 2021 there are a variety of ways that people can learn about breaking news and current events. People who are computer savvy might get news alerts from social media sources, such as Twitter or watch livestream press conferences from government officials. On the other hand, some people prefer more traditional news sources, such as a daily newspaper, news radio, or the national news on TV. Users of social media will typically follow news sources that they are interested in, such as Fox News or CNN. In fact, a recent study showed that 9 out of 10 people on Twitter use that app as their primary news source. According to The American Press, "Fully 94% of Twitter news users get their news either through scrolling their timelines or browsing tweets of those they follow." In addition, thousands of people tune into live press conferences by government officials, which are accessed through YouTube and FaceBook. For example, throughout the pandemic, New Jersey governor Phil Murphey has held regular press briefings with his CoronaVirus task force that are extremely popular. People who have long commutes in their car might use their radio as a source for their news. In my home state of New Jersey, my parents are always listening to WKXW (New Jersey 101.5), which is a commercial FM radio station, which has a talk and news format 24/7. Another popular source for news is the daily newspaper. In fact, my grandparents have a routine each morning, which includes reading all sections of The New York Times during breakfast. Finally, another traditional way people learn about the news is television where there are many different formats including 24 hour news, local stories, and national news. With so many available news sources, it is easy for the average person to keep up with the news