According to the constitution, freedom of speech means we are allowed to say whatever we please in public about anything even the government, but we cannot say things can potentially dangerous or life threatening to someone or groups and we cannot state lies (slander) or false information that can harmful as well.
Now that is a short-hand easy to understand interpretation of what the first amendment tells us, according to Name that Freedom, and article front the New York Times written by John Schwartz, he stated that “ While 61 percent of those surveyed this year knew that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech…[only] 18 percent cited freedom of the press.” He also found that most people commonly just assumed freedom of speech and presses were basically one thing. If they were, they wouldn’t be stated separately.
The problem with today’s generation where information literally at our fingertips and we have the capabilities to put anything on the web and state them as fact with no research and no support has seriously hindered our ability to separate right from wrong. We disregard what are country is founded upon is that is freedom of speech with endangering others. Sometimes we forget that when we go online and put something true or untrue about another person that led to harming them physically, mentally, and emotionally. Just because you can say doesn’t mean it’s necessarily legal to say. For example mass-spreading harmful rumors about someone you dislike on Facebook can put you in prison. These are the latter parts of the constitution that go unread and disregard after someone reads freedom of speech, press, etc.
Because our generation has access to “publishing” anything online, we are like mini-journalist and we must all abide by the rules that are set in place. They are there for our own good.
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