Eight Values of Free Expression

     Free speech is a core value in America that sets the tone of our culture. Without it, life would be very different, extremely boring, and it would take away how people express themselves. When reflecting on the Eight Values of Free Expression, the value the resonates with me the most is promoting tolerance. Free expression maters because it teaches people how to coexist with ideas and perspectives they may strongly disagree with, rather than trying to silence them.

      In our society today, you see things all time about boycotting stores because of their political beliefs, and unfollowing people on social media who post things that you don't agree with. I do not think this is a healthy way to live, which is why promoting tolerance is important to me. On various social media platforms, users are often censored for things that they post. People are easily offended by ones words, and tend to think certain opinions are hateful, instead of hearing them out and have a conversation about why they are offended by said thing. This is one of the biggest things that bother me whether its online, or in person. The culture of trying to "cancel" someone because of what they believe is making our society take steps backwards, instead of forwards. The reason we have free speech is to civilly disagree with one another, because without disagreements what a boring world we would live in! Tolerance also strengthens confidence in ones own beliefs. Speaking to others about deep topics forces you to think critically and really articulate why you believe what you do. Charlie Kirk was a prime example of this value, and his open dialogue and discussions was an incredible way of promoting tolerance through tough conversations. Promoting tolerance does not mean you have to agree with every idea, it instead focuses on defending our right to speak, while respectfully exercising our right to criticize and disagree. 

    The issue of censorship on social media is a prime issue in our society today. Whether on the left or right, each side has twisted or shut down a story to make the other side look bad or to prevent information from getting out. For example, this article by CNN talks about how the Trump US TikTok is off to a rough start, due to users being censored when trying to post anti-ICE videos. Although this is categorized as hate speech, it is still a first amendment right and is protected. Therefore being censored even thought its hateful is wrong. Now if its becomes violent/life threatening, then that escalates. On the flip side, the main reason Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) was to promote free speech and make algorithms open sources.  People such as Elon Musk himself, and Donald Trump were banned form the platform for expressing their free speech right, which again is wrong and should not have happened. 

    The value of promoting tolerance is extremely important to me, because I believe through conversation you can expand upon and express your views, lear about opposing views, and accept others have different opinions than you without hating or canceling them. 

Online Privacy

     Listening to the TEDtalk about Online Privacy was very eye opening. It is scary that someone can find out everything about you without ever speaking to you. The man in the video is correct when saying people are often judged simply by whether or not they have tattoos. I never thought about the internet being an electronic tattoo until this video. Some refer to it as a digital footprint, where if theres a video you posted back in 2016 that you don't have access to anymore, someone else might still have access. Like the second video says, the government knows far too much about us, whereas years ago they didn't. This affects my family, friends, and I because it is a terrifying mind game to live in where things you may think are private, some random person in the government knows. The government is obviously invading our privacy, but there is nothing we as citizens can do about it. They should be protecting our information, but instead they dig into personal profiles and sometimes put identities at risk. That is why there was a privacy issue with TikTok. According to this article, "China does collect personal data on Americans and have been doing so for at least a decade, but there is no evidence that it has found a way to benefit from this. China takes advantage of the loophole created by the congressional failure to pass privacy legislation." There was a big enough privacy issue from another country, that the US took action and is now the majority owner of user privacy in the country. But, is this really a good thing? In hindsight you might think so, but if you take a closer look, now the government has even more control over us, and are actively censoring and changing TikTok guidelines for users across the country. To protect ourselves from this is difficult, but VPN's seem to be a great to way block outside users from viewing your data. This is a prominent and dangerous ongoing issue, and the American people need to continue to fight this fight.

 

My Top 5 News Sources

 In todays world, it is incredibly easy to access news on various different networking platforms. You have the freedom and capability to pick and chose where you get your news from. These are my top 5 news sources. 

1. Google

    Google has been and probably always will be my #1 news source. Whenever I hear crazy or exiting news, immediatly do a quick google search and see how many news outlets are reporting on an issue to verify whether or not its true. I like to use google because it is fast and sufficient. 

 2. TikTok 

    Among my generation, 15-30 second videos are what captures viewers attention. When scrolling on my TikTok feed, I am always learning information about what is going on in the world simply by what shows up on my algorithm. I enjoy following independent journalists on TikTok who make consice, unbiased videos about relevant topics in the world.

  3. Fox News

    One of the most popular conservative news networks is my third resource. I like to watch Jesse Watters, The Five, Sean Hannity, and numerous other shows on the Fox News channel. When watching, I can get updates in real time, even before any other news platform can send out a notification. I have the Fox News app on my phone which sends me notifications of the top headlines for each day, which keeps me well informed. 

4. X

    
    I am a newer user to X, but I like how the algorithm is tailored to me and things that I enjoy getting coverage on. I am able to see a wide variety of creators, and news channels provide her takes on each topic, and I am able to see multiple perspectives on different issue which is important for me.

5. Instagram

Last but not least, Instagram is another way I get my news. Typically, I will see someone who I follow upload a story and from there will head over to Google, or another platform to fact check what I just saw. Similiarly to X, I am able to follow several different news platforms which keeps me well informed throughout the day.