8 Values of Free Expression

   

When looking at the 8 Values of Free Expression the one that stuck out to me the most was the 7th one, Promote Innovation. I feel like this is very important because everyone's opinion should be appreciated and with this it is making free speech valued. With this it also creates a better environment for citizens to be themselves. The whole reason for the 1st Amendment is to give freedom of speech. This value falls into line with that because it shines a positive light on speech. 

    Currently a major thing that goes on are protests. I think these can tie into each expression in their own way. But the one I would say strongly plays into them is the 8th one, Protect Dissent. This value came from Steve Shiffrin in the book Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America. Steve said "a dissent-based approach reveals weaknesses in the approaches to free speech taken by postmodernism, Republicanism, deliberative democratic theory, outsider jurisprudence, and liberal theory." With cases coming from both the republican side and democratic side I feel this can be applied to both. On the democratic side there were protests such as the Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. This event correlates with 8th value because it talks about how you have the right to disagree with the government. The root of these protests came from racial police brutality. Since they say that it is your patriotic duty to criticize the government, protesting against it would be doing just that. This was such a time for many people to speak out on how they feel and utilize their right to freedom of speech. On the republican side was the Capitol Riot on January 6th 2021. Everything started because Donald Trump made a speech and mentioned peacefully and patriotically making their voices heard. People clearly did not listen well and created chaos instead. Once again this ties in the 8th value because there is criticism happening to the government. President Trump, at the time, was stating that there was some form of voting fraud that had happened. So because of this people that supported him agreed and wanted to make it known. Their way of making it known was storming the Capitol and vocally criticizing the government. According to the 8th value this is supported in voicing a disagreeing thought against the government. Overall, there are and will be events that occur on both republican and democratic sides that can be looked at with the 8th value, Protect Dissent, in mind.

    When it comes to social media, it is a big thing in current news and life in general. The use of social media can be looked at as the 1st value, Discovery of Truth. When many statements are being put out on different topics in the end the truth will find its way out. There can be many false narratives put out there on the internet and many people come to believe it before doing further research. There is no specific case I can think of where this is evident but I feel it is the most common on Twitter. They have recently added a feature where they can notify users if a tweet includes information that is not accurate or confirmed to be true. Before this many people used it as a way to spread misinformation. At the end of the day though, the truth comes out whether that is a week later or years later.