Policies and Issues on Internet and Implications to Teaching and Learning

Freedom of Expression and Censorship

Title of Article: Censorship and Freedom of Expression in the Age of Facebook
Source: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2435568
Name of the Author: Benjamin Jackson


a.Summary Narrative

            Freedom of expression is an important human right which is essential for a society to be democratic. It enables the free exchange of ideas, opinions and information and thus allows members of society to form their own opinions on issues of public importance. Freedom of expression serves public debate and supports a free and independent press, informed citizenship and the transparent functioning of the state.
              The First Amendment only limits governmental actors—federal, state, and local—but there are good reasons why this should be changed. Certain powerful private entities—particularly social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and others—can limit, control, and censor speech as much or more than governmental entities. A society that cares for the protection of free expression needs to recognize that the time has come to extend the reach of the First Amendment to cover these powerful, private entities that have ushered in a revolution in terms of communication capabilities.

b. What lesson you have learned?
                 Free speech is not only about your ability to speak but the ability to listen to others and allow other views to be heard. The right to freedom of expression is very broad, but it has limits and can be restricted. This is when the freedom of expression of one person violates the rights of another person or the values of society as a whole. In situations like these, the state can lawfully restrict or punish expressions that cause harm. Examples of this are violations of private life, defamation, hate speech, obscenity, pornography, public order, national security, classified information, trade secrets or copyright violations.
Censorship and free speech is a widely discussed topic when dealing with the current freedom of the internet especially when dealing with young minds.
             Freedom of expression gives special rights and duties to the media. The media inform society on matters of public interest and create an important platform for public debate, scrutiny and reflection.

c.What suggestion can you offer?
             We should be realistic about who is likely to call the shots as private, for-profit platforms assume greater roles in restricting online speech. Most obviously, governments that control access to major markets are well positioned to influence platforms’ decisions worldwide. We should care deeply about the rules these companies apply to our speech and behavior. In using Facebook, twitter or any kind of social media, we should be careful of what we post or share. We should know the DO and DON'T in using those social media.