Blog #3- Eight Values of Free Expression

As I was going on in class today and reading the Eight Values of Free Expression, I noticed that two of them are more prominent in our society today. To be more specific, I think that social media goes hand in hand with both of these values and plays a major factor in todays world. 

The first one is "Promote Innovation". This is where "a community in which free speech is valued and protected is likely to be a more energized, creative, interesting society as its citizens actively fulfill themselves in many diverse and interesting ways". I am automatically thinking about all the different social media platforms that our society has today and all the different influencers that share their opinion and can use their platform to be creative and do what they love. This does not mean though that an influencer can say whatever they want. There are still legality issues that social media influencers face in 2022. 

If you think about the different platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, they all have one thing in common, they are private companies. This means that they have the ability to censor anything that they might think could be considered inappropriate to their terms and conditions that we see when we sign up for the app. In a recent post by Loyola University Maryland, the writer looks at the issue of whether there really is freedom of speech on social media anymore, especially the apps owned privately. 

The second Value of Free Expression, that made me think was "Individual Self-Fulfillment". This is when "free speech enables individuals to express themselves and thereby create their own identity -- and, in the process perhaps, find kindred spirits. Freedom of speech thus becomes an aspect of human dignity, human agency, and autonomy. I feel as thought, other than social media, this value can be attributed to the LGBTQ matter. Where standards are now changing, and it is more respected to be open about a person as a human and not to be shamed for who they are. 

We as a community and nation need to feed off of these Values and realize that we have the ability to be who we are and that we have control over being the best citizens as we can. We can use our "Participation in Self-Government", "Check on Governmental Power", and "Protest Dissent" freedoms to make sure that this nation stays on track and that everyone, NO MATTER WHAT, has equal power and say in our government and social world today.