Get With the Times: The First Amendment and The Digital Age

 I think it is safe to say that times have changed since the First Amendment was adopted. When the concept of Freedom of Speech came about, the founding fathers did not have social media and technology to worry about. According to an article, the digital age has brought about a need for new laws in terms of Freedom of Speech. Of course, with new laws come debates in many forms. Many people believe that the regulation of the Internet and social media obstruct the freedoms of speech and expression (Momen). An example that comes to mind of social media being regulated is something I saw personally happening on the platform called TikTok. A few months ago, it was being brought to the attention of many that there was a large amount of hate crimes against members of the AAPI community. Users on TikTok that I follow were posting to raise awareness of these events. Shortly after posting, their videos were flagged, taken down, and a few even were banned from using the platform. This is a situation that brought about a debate in whether or not the regulation of social media was infringing on Freedom of Speech and Expression. 

The article states that governments feel the need to regulate such things to create a balance between freedom of speech and expression and an issue of national security. In order to do this, many countries have turned to what is described as a “legislative framework” to act as a censor. This was primarily created to stop the spread of negative views of the government and the government officials. This is done by filtering content and even blocking whole webpages from being visited. In some countries, people have been arrested and charged criminally for something as simple as an Instagram post (Momen). 

Personally, I feel as if these actions are infringements on the rights laid out in the first amendment. Taking down a persons post on social media and controlling what internet users see and don’t see takes away the rights of speech and expression. In my opinion, considering the first amendment was enacted before we had technology, I feel as if there are some things that need to be rewritten. 

Momen, Nurul. “Threats to Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age.” Researchgate, www.researchgate.net/profile/Md-Momen-3/publication/343264361_Threats_to_Free_Expression_in_the_Digital_Age/links/5f958371a6fdccfd7b7db304/Threats-to-Free-Expression-in-the-Digital-Age.pdf.