The “value of free expression” that resonates with me, is the “check on governmental power” through freedom of the press and through freedom of speech by individuals in blog and social media posts. Internet technology, specifically the first browser in 1993, Google’s search engine in 1999, through to today’s massive public forums on social media sites, have made it much easier for journalists—both established media, and individuals—to spread news of abuses they have uncovered; and much easier for the public to learn about them.
For example, President Trump constantly abuses his power, and the press constantly reports it. When he fired four Inspectors General because they were investigating possible wrongdoing by him and his people, the press reported on the firings and Trump’s self-serving reasons for them. Anyone could quickly and easily find this information on the internet, around the world.
Today’s news contains reports that Trump ignored warnings in his “Presidential Daily Briefs” that Russia offered a bounty to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan. The President did not complain to Putin, despite having six phone calls with him, since receiving the PDBs. Three U.S. soldiers may have died because of the bounties. These details were separately verified by “The New York Times”, “The Washington Post”, NBC News, the Associated Press and other news organizations. This quickly became a hot topic on countless blogs and social media sites. These watchdog reports spread much further and much faster today, thanks to the internet and its search engines. And, thanks to the internet, many more people get their news on line than in print. This means people across the United States, and around the world have easy access to the “The New York Times”, or the “Los Angeles Times”’ and they can discover breaking news stories immediately, instead of having to wait for tomorrow’s publication to come out in print.
After his election, Trump admitted that he came up with the term “fake news” to discredit stories that are critical of him. But because of his constant abuses of power, and all the “watchdog” reports by journalists, Trump’s approval rating has stayed low, and if the election were held today, polls say that Trump would lose in a landslide. So, alerting the public to abuses of power, can lead the public to vote the abuser out.
One downside of the explosion in blogs, opinionated media outlets and social media in general, is the corresponding explosion of misinformation that’s widely available—the real “fake news”. In fact more people get their news from social media than from established news sites, like “The New York Times” and the BBC, according to the Pew Research Center. Social media sites aren’t responsible for checking whether its posts are true. One of the principles of freedom of speech is the elimination of censors and “thought police.” So, we have to hope that most news consumers will be wise enough to separate the real from the really “fake.”
Pictures:
https://atlascorps.org/freedom-speech-principles/freedom-of-speech-media-control-censorship/
https://www.boell.de/en/2019/12/17/tackling-hate-speech-requires-protection-freedom-expression
http://cbldf.org/the-first-amendment/
Website:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/827945?read-now=1&seq=34#metadata_info_tab_contents
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