Blog Post #4 The First Amendment in Media

    Social Media plays a huge role in today's society. It has taken over the country and almost everyone has the ability to post their thoughts online. But The First Amendment is not abided when it comes to what you can post. The First Amendment allows us the freedom of speech but when it comes to social media are we are not always granted that right.

    Companies like Twitter and Facebook are privately owned companies. Because they are private they hold the power to regulate what is posted on their platforms and are not restricted by the First Amendment. This is why Former President Trump had his Twitter suspended. In other countries lawmakers hold the power to regulate what is said on the media.

    A TikTok user posted a video asking their audience, "What is something that's normal in your country but weird for the rest of the world?" This TikTok got a lot of popularities and people started posting their global differences. This was a primer on the First Amendment.

    The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, called the banning of the President at the time "problematic". Merkel stressed the idea that lawmakers should regulate what is posted to the media not CEOs of social media. 

    When social media is regulated I believe it is a violation of our First Amendment right. There are Eight Values to Free Expression and we hold the right to "Promote Innovation". This is not easily done when are posts are being restricted by non lawmakers. This also restricts other countries rights on expression causing it to become a global norm. 

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