Voices of America:

Problématique : To what extent Americans can use freedom of

speech ?
 

Introduction : The 5 Freedoms

The Constitution is a body of laws. These laws are amendments.

- Freedom of religion: you can be part of any religion you want (hence the free range
for cults)
- Freedom of speech: you are allowed to say whatever you want
- Freedom of the press: the press is allowed to print anything
- Freedom to assemble/ protest: people are allowed to gather and protest
- Freedom to petition the government: the right to call on your governor/ senator to
talk about political issues.

I. Is Freedom Power ?

A. Power to the People

Freedom of speech is not respect online, because social media are private entities. They
have their laws and they own their freedom in the first amendment.

A grassroot movement is a movement made of a lot of people, usually starts on social

media. They haven’t need financial support.
A Lobby is a political pressure group.
 

B. #MeToo
The image is the cover of a book. There we can see a woman with a sign in the shape
of a woman where it is written “silent no more”. Above the woman we can see “the
silence breakers and the #metoo movement” which is the title. The silent breakers
and the #metoo movement is a grassroot movement created by women to denounce
sexual violence/ harassment.
 II. Does Free Speech Cover It All?
A. Fake news and social media:
Fakes news is a piece of information that is not necessarily true. We can now it is fake news
if we check other sources and compare the stories. Also, if it comes from reliable services,
such as a major newspaper or news channel, it’s likely to be true.

B. Free Speech No Matter What?

 First paragraph: they say that we should defend Nazis because, however hateful their
speech is, if we keep them from exercising their first amendment right, what will keep the
government from banning other groups? To keep them from speaking could be considered
as censorship.

Second paragraph: Nazis should not have the right to speak out loud, because they are
considered hateful/ harmful speech. If they are forbidden to speak, then there will be less
hate, and the US will be a fairer and nicer place.