The First Amendment, one of the most controversial amendments in this day of age, is the freedom of speech. Many people believe that people should have the freedom of speech without any restrictions but others believe differently. In the movie “We are Legion” the First Amendment is viewed differently between the two groups, the Anonymous and the rest of the world. While the world believes that some information should be confidential and have restrictions on what should be said and how it can be said. Anonymous believes that information should be made public for the public and their actions should be protected by the First Amendment. Although the First Amendment protects the group, many people believe that they should still be charged and tried for releasing confidential information to the public. Should people be charged for exercising a right that was given to them by the country that they live in? While some people believe that freedom of speech is limited, others want no restrictions on the amendment, except for example if you are in someone’s home and have limited speech. As a citizen of the United States, I do not believe that Anonymous is doing the right thing even if they are protected by the First Amendment.
The First Amendment by definition is that “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” (Legal Information Institute, 2017). Based on this definition we can see that Anonymous should be protected by this Amendment for the idea of “no law… prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech… peacefully assemble…” which they did throughout the movie. Several times during the movie you saw people talk about how the groups of people assembled peacefully by just wearing masks and waving signs. Many other saw this as acts against the country for the sole reason that they were releasing confidential files and were worried that they could be the next victims of their crimes. But, some believe that freedom of speech is very well balanced but could
It’d be a lot harder to hand out papers on a daily basis if government officials were always checking them for any signs of treason. It’s important that U.S. citizens are able to communicate their thoughts freely because that’s how ideas and concepts spread. Even if these ideas oppose the government, no one should be put on trial for saying what they believe is true. Americans can only express their opinions if they know that they won’t be arrested for saying them. By stating what we think is wrong about our government, we’re allowing these things to be fixed.
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” (Jacobus 93). Just like the Freedom of Religion there are limitations placed on the Freedom of Speech so that other people’s rights aren’t compromised. For example, people are not allowed to present true threats, or “fighting words” to another person. This restriction was put into play in the court case of Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire. The Court ruled that “fighting words, by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace and may be punished consistent with the First Amendment.” (Ruane 3-4). In this case if someone was to use “fighting words” which is their perceived freedom of speech, it would not only violate the law, it could violate someone’s freedom of pursue life, liberty, and happiness. With this, we can see that freedom is not always as it
The first amendment, the right of freedom of speech is one of the most important classic fantasy to almost anyone living in the United States, building the foundation of our nation. This right gives us plenty of different opportunities to express our opinions and political viewpoints on any issues in America. But it comes with a price, people have been protesting multiple different events trying to prevent people from expressing opposing opinions or political viewpoints on that has issues in America. For the minority of people, expressing a different opinion should be protected no matter how controversial or insensitive it may be.
America’s first president George Washington once argued at the [whenever he said this] that “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” It is an essential component to the daily life of any constitutional republic, such as that of the United States even though it is a right granted to all American citizens, in the past, freedom of speech has been abridged to accommodate political correctness, to prevent disruptive behavior that could negatively affect others, and to protect confidential military information.
Free speech is by far the most commonly recognized freedom in our everyday lives. The freedom of speech allows us to voice our own opinions without the severe repercussions of some countries. It allows us to say what we really feel and helps us learn how to communicate in true and meaningful ways. Along with this freedom, we must remember that there are limits to this freedom. While being arrested “you have the right to remain silent” and anything you say can be used against you in court. This freedom is not one to be taken for
Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. Whether or not on a college campus, people (especially college students) should have the right to speak freely. Everyone does have the right to speak freely, because it is one of the twenty-seven amendments. Colleges all around the United States are now home to many restrictions on free speech. For example, the idea and use of “free speech zones” has made its way to colleges everywhere. A “free speech zone” is a sidewalk sized place where students are allowed to speak their minds freely on college campuses. I know what you’re thinking. This sounds ridiculous. Why are there specific places for people to speak their minds? Aren’t colleges suppose to be a place where students speak their minds and learn new things? Universities should not be able to put any restrictions on free speech.
To begin with, the American Government has created many unconstitutional laws such as the Sedition Act of 1918 ( an act passed in 1918 that if anyone talked negatively about the government or war efforts it was punishable by long periods of jail time or death penalty after December 13,1920 the act was repealed due to citizens expressing displeasure) , which restricts the first right to freedom of speech.Freedom of speech, it’s becoming questionable on how free speech actually is in the United States. Watson states , there has been a “seven-teen percent increase in cases of people speaking out against the government , which can be punishable by jail time” , or as conspiracy theorist believe death.The restriction of freedom of speech comes from lack of active participation in American politics .The most recent case that is similar to the Sedition Act of 1918 occurred in 2012 a male citizen named Tarek
The freedom of speech is one of the most precious rights that the United States citizens have. Unlike many other countries, the United States citizens have the freedom to speak their minds and to give their opinions on anything as long as it is done in a peaceful manner without having any fear of governmental retaliation. “The First Amendment guarantees our right to free expression and free association, which means that the government does not have the right to forbid us from saying what we like and writing what we like.” This does not mean that a person can say whatever he or she wants to say, but rather that a person’s right to say something is protected within certain limits.
The First Amendment was adopted in 1791. It states that “Congress shall make no law 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.” (Wikipedia, 2016) The freedom of speech documented in the First Amendment is not only a constitutional protection, but also an inevitable part of democratic government and independence, which are essential values in our society. “Censorship,” according to the ACLU, “… is the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others”. (ACLU, 2016) That is why the American citizen’s right to free speech should be held as the highest virtue and any censorship of freedom of speech should not be allowed, but only respected. Not to mention that censorship is unconstitutional.
This snippet of an article relates to the first amendment. The first amendment is defined as the prohibition of Congress from interfering with freedom of religion, speech, assembly, or petition. This article relates to the first amendment because it is about current issues of leaked government info. This is where the controversy starts. Is it still okay to speak freely even if that means government info is leaked? Or are we just taking free speech too far? Where is that fine
The United States Constitution grants American citizens the freedom of speech. This single line in the First Amendment has been a staple of American culture since its ratification on December 15, 1791 (Constitution Center, 2018). The Founders recognized the significance of this freedom and the power it had to shape a young nation. It was George Washington who declared-“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter” (Global Research, 2016). The legal definition of this vision is “the right to express information, ideas, and opinions- free of government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2018). Consequently, this sole clause
I truly believe that the first amendment is the most valuable and crucial to our society today. Personally, the aspect of free speech and right to petition and assemebly gives this country a unique power to it's people that many oppressed people around the world wished they had. Just recently in this country we have had assemblies such as Occupy Wall street, Alt-Right/Neo Nazi rallys and so on. In many countries, governments and the powers that be squash any vocal crtisims or opposing opinions that don't follow thier ideals such as Russia, North Korea, and so on. I come from Egypt and I have family that were terrified of speaking out against Morsi and his regime. Even though i don't aways agree with what people are saying, I truely respect and cherise my rights and others rights to speak thier minds. However, i also do believe that free speech has been under attack by both liberals and conservatives to further thier own agendas, it's both ironic, hypocritical and very scary.
Many people have gone to court questioning exactly what freedom of speech means, and through these cases, it’s been made clear that this freedom does not exist in all situations. For example, you cannot say something that would put people in danger or create disorder. A common example of this being yelling fire in a movie theater, but it also includes things like destroying draft cards and making public private material. Another point is that, although the government might not punish you for saying certain things, other people may have the right to. For instance, if a school tells you not to say something, and you do, the school has full right to discipline or expell
All this is to say; yes, there are problems with anonymous speech. It leaves the door open for lies and malevolent intentions. But also, shutting that door completely inhibits people to have courage to speak up against injustice or malpractice. Americans need to recognize that freedom to speak openly is under fire… we need to defend all kinds of speech. In the words of Justice Brandies, “The remedy is more speech,” be it anonymous or
The freedom of speech is something that everybody should have a right to in the United States. Not everyone around the world has this right, because some countries are corrupted, abandoned, and even nearly messed up politically. In the 1876 Constitution it talks about how free speech was specified along with the right to bear arms, and the right to petition. The first amendment gave the people power to stand up against a power hungry nation to let the nation know what the people wanted to change. Tinker vs. Des Moines was a case that involved a situation with freedom of speech. They both, along with their parents, wanted to protest a way of how they can prevent the Vietnam War by wearing arm bands to symbolize their way of protesting. This