The Eight Values of Free Expression (Key Post)

Key Post: The Eight Values of Free Expression 

Check on Governmental Power and Protection of Dissent

The eight values of free expression are the marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on governmental power, promotion of tolerance, promotion of innovation, and protection of dissent.  Out of the eight values of free expression, the value of  “Check on Governmental Power” stuck out the most to me.  The United States government was designed to be for the people and by the people, so unless the people are allowed to freely communicate with the government, this design will deteriorate.  The government has many checks and balances built into the system (including the three-way split of power between the federal branches, the balance between state and federal power, etc.), but free speech remains an essential safeguard in case these other measures ever fail.  Over the course of our nation’s history, the federal government has only grown in power and it seems that trend will continue.  Therefore, the right of individuals to bring their grievances to the government is key to preserving democracy and ensuring that we the people can actively participate in government.   

Although our tripartite system of government is important in balancing power within the government, American citizens also need to have a way to actively engage with the government, even if they themselves are not elected officials.  The First Amendment allows citizens to share their thoughts without fear of censorship or punishment.  This in turn encourages public discourse, as people can share their opinions (no matter how unpopular) without the threat of legal repercussions.  Additionally, this allows Americans the freedom to criticize elected officials, their decisions, and their policies.  This criticism can be helpful in bringing about change and finding helpful solutions. 

Additionally, I believe that the value of protecting dissent fits in very well with the value of checking government power because both encourage citizens to use their rights to voice their grievances to the government.  Although they are separate, there are many occasions on which a person will use their First Amendment rights to do both at once, such as when protesting a very popular policy.  Even if an individual’s opinion is completely unique and not held by anyone else in society, their right to express it is protected just as much as another individual’s right to express their widely held view.  If the majority of the population views a certain opinion as unintelligent, dangerous, or immoral, the people who hold those opinions still have every right to talk, post, and write about their beliefs.  The founding fathers knew the importance of preventing a “Tyranny of the Majority,” as the American colonies were populated with various immigrant groups who had fled here to escape religious and political persecution.  Therefore, the authors of the Constitution knew that they must write protections for all people into the Constitution in order to allow those with “minority beliefs” their full freedom.  

Both of these values play into the developing story of the “Twitter files,” a series of documents released by Elon Musk revealing U.S. government involvement in the censorship of certain individuals (including renowned doctors and political dissidents) on X, a social media platform formerly known as Twitter.  The confirmation of direct government involvement in Twitter’s decision to censor and deplatform select individuals allows those same censored individuals to have a convincing First Amendment violation case against Twitter, since such cases would fulfill the qualifications of a free speech infringement case under the concept of State Action Doctrine.  However, the Twitter Files point to a larger need in society for free expression in the online world.  Legally, platforms such as X, Facebook, Youtube, Spotify, etc. can remove whoever they please from their platforms since they are private companies.  Additionally, regardless of where the speech is said, written, or posted, the First Amendment is not absolute, and not all speech is protected. 

However, this case highlights the importance of the protection of unpopular speech, especially in the public square.  If doctors and experts such as Dr. Jay Bhattacharya had been allowed to freely criticize government health policies on a platform reaching millions of people, could more lives have been saved during the COVID 19 pandemic?  Doubtless, solutions to the spread of illness could have been found much more quickly if doctors were allowed to openly criticize, question, and experiment throughout the early stages of the pandemic.  

The eight values of free expression play active roles in developing our society by strengthening political policy, allowing for an exchange of ideas, enabling individuals to express their identity and beliefs, giving citizens a way to bring their grievances directly to the government, and endless other benefits.  From my perspective, the check on government power and the protection of dissent are the most key to our democratic republic and the continuation of self-government.  Without these principles, we would not be able to express our grievances directly to the government without fear of legal punishment.  This fear would prevent lively discourse in our society and allow groupthink to set in.  The right to express unique opinions must be protected because the expression of such opinions entices us to engage in the public conversation and look for ways to support and possibly change our own opinions. 

Credit to https://www.newsnationnow.com/on-balance-with-leland-vittert/stanford-doctor-among-those-blacklisted-on-twitter/, https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/what-the-twitter-files-reveal-about-free-speech-and-social-media, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/15/23505370/twitter-files-elon-musk-taibbi-weiss-covid, and https://medlawlit.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9.html