The First Amendment is often tossed around to aid in
allowing individuals the freedom to express their views on several subjects.
Free speech was created for the purposes of permitting anyone to express their
concerns about their government. (Pember & Calvert, 2013, p. 35) We enjoy the ability to express ourselves; but
we often cross the invisible line of what free speech is. We take our freedom to the extremes, even if
it comes off as rude or hateful comments.
The social value of the meaning “free speech” needs to evolve with our
technology. Cyberbullying and spreading
rumors about individuals can raise issues for both parties involved. For
example, when addressing students creating groups to discuss the dislike or
like of a professor on social media website, did it fall under the First
Amendment?
I
believe it did. “It was an opinion of a
student about a teacher, that was published off-campus, did not cause any
disruption on-campus, and was not lewd, vulgar, threatening, or advocating
illegal or dangerous behavior.”.
(Kravets, 2010) The student was within their right to express their
feelings regarding the teacher. Students
may not agree with the teacher or if they are not presenting themselves in a
professional manner. What was the
teacher doing to cause the student to create a group? The First Amendment allows this type of
criticism, yet there is a fine line some individuals will cross and grab hold
of as freedom of speech
When looking over the two other cases listed and
locations of Myspace accounts, I do wonder why one is acceptable and the other
was not. If we take the consideration
that both situations open the students up for defamation suits, then is it
possible both students are wrong? To openly create false profiles could cause
parents to wonder about the principal and any punishments handed out. Rumors spreading across the campuses are
possible whether it is a beer or the sexual lifestyle outside of school
grounds.
Journalists rely on the freedom of the press and speech
when producing stories, allowing us to provide credible information to the
public. If one source creates a rumor and
as journalists we spend our time trying to back up the information, where that
could lead their stories? Freedom of
speech does not mean giving an individual the right to provide false
information about individuals or even create false backgrounds; it allows us
the right to voice our concerns.
References
Kravets, D. (2010,
February 14). Student’s Facebook Tirade Against Teacher Is Protected Speech |
Threat Level | WIRED. Retrieved August 14, 2014, from http://www.wired.com/2010/02/student-facebook-tirade-against-teacher-is-protected-speech/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20wired/index
Pember, D. R. &
Calvert, C. (2013). Mass media law (18th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
No comments:
Post a Comment