Time to Open Up The Iron Curtain

Is Freedom of the Press dead?

Freedom of the Press is the strongest protected right. The Freedom of the Press allows people (like you and me) to use speech platforms to participate in the journalistic activity. This right here (my blog) is journalistic activity and so was my last post on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Our journalistic speech is protected by the First Amendment as long as the speech doesn’t cause immediate, physical harm to someone. The Supreme Court has used this concept when addressing cases claiming the violation of an individual’s First Amendment right. 

Take a look at the 2019 case, Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump. This case addressed censorship by government officials, specifically, by former President Trump. While not addressed in this case, other government officials have participated in similar practices. The Trump administration ended the use of press briefings, which allowed Trump to turn to Twitter as his way to communicate with the public. Therefore, regardless of our feelings toward Trump, we all got information from his Twitter feed. Donald Trump was found guilty of violating the First Amendment when blocking citizens' accounts on the basis of a differing viewpoint. Social media became a public forum the minute it started being used by government officials to receive and share information with the public. 

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and a lower court deemed Twitter as an "interactive space" which then labeled it a "public forum." 

So what did Big Tech do in response to the outcome of Knight v. Trump?

Facebook and Twitter decided to take regulation into their own hands by banning the former president from all of their platforms. 

If these, “Big Tech,” companies have the power to ban the President of the United States from “public forum for discourse,” this would imply that they then have more power than the United States government. Without being elected, screened, and chosen by the people, these companies have more power than those who were. Not only do they have more power, they even claim to have more First Amendment protection than those government officials.

1) Since corporations are considered “people,” and are punishing citizens for their speech, without reason or opportunity to appeal… wouldn't they be in violation of the Fifth Amendment? 

If the government were to put YOU in jail and take away YOUR property, all without giving you a fair trial or reason, would this not be an infringement on your Fifth Amendment right to due process? 

2) Since social media sites were created to provide a forum for discussion and a traditional public forum (streets, public parks, etc.) is also a discussion space, could social media also qualify as a public forum? 

If they were considered public forums, social media content moderators would be violating citizens' First Amendment rights by censoring their legal speech. 

3) If blogs are considered part of journalistic activity, and the Freedom of the Press protects your journalistic expression, why don't you have that same freedom, while partaking in the same activity, on social media?

 

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Just something to think about.