Blog #4: Freedom of The First Amendment

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The First Amendment was adopted in 1791 with nine other amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment grants Americans freedom of speech, religion, and the press as well as protects the right to peaceful protest and to petition the government. 

The First Amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

    The First Amendment is important to the United States of America because it is a right that holds America as more privileged than other, especially third world countries. Every individual has the right to their own opinion - which they should be able to voice. Recently, former President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter in light of the U.S Capitol attack that occurred on January 6th, 2021. Many believe that Trump incited the storming of the Capitol based on what he shares with the public. Twitter is a very vocal platform that allows users to tweet whatever they want to, as long as it does not violate Twitter's guidelines. Twitter has the right to ban any user if they use the platform to promote violence, terrorism, child sexual exploitation, abuse/harassment, hateful conduct, self-harm, sensitive media, and illegal or certain regulated goods or services. 

The question remains: Is Trump being banned from Twitter a violation of the First Amendment? 

    Without government involvement, no constitutional claim can be made because only the government can violate the constitutional rights, therefore the First Amendment does not reach private actors such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. After Trump was banned from Twitter, many people viewed it as unfair and a form of censorship - so they switched to a similar platform known as Parler. The switch occurred because many believed that Facebook and Twitter were singling out conservative voices. Shortly after a widespread Parler download -  Google, Apple, and Amazon cut off the app and removed it from their platforms. This quite literally is singling out Conservative voices since the majority of Parler users were Conservatives. 

    Google, Apple, and Amazon are all extremely large companies that have an influence over many. It is a scary thought that people in these large companies that are constantly used in daily life have the power to silence millions of voices. If only Trump was banned from these platforms because of how he was negatively using apps such as Twitter and Facebook, why is it that those who simply have differing political views deserve to be silenced? 

    The First Amendment serves as a way the government allows people to freely express themselves and their opinions, but the increasing usage of social media is beginning to silence those who have opposing views. In a world where social media dominates everyday life, this leaves many to wonder: How free are Americans if their views do not align with the favored one?