Speech On Freedom Of Speech

" Freedom of speech, so valued by our founding fathers in their efforts to escape the tyranny of British monarchy, has been frequently challenged throughout the history of the United States. While this problem is complex and unending, it_Ñés never been as enormous an issue as it has become in the modern era, a time when everyone has the freedom to be heard, no matter the validity or merit of their ideas. Rampant political fracturing, accompanied and aided by the accessibility of so many differing voices online, have caused many to question the almost total liberty that has so far been granted towards speech. In this country_Ñés many years as a pinnacle of freedom in the modern world, little remains to remind us of the restrictions of liberty faced under British rule. Freedom of speech and press were rather new ideas during the colonial era, inspired by the European Enlightenment, and were defended tirelessly in the colonies in the years leading up to and after the Revolution. An early event that brought this issue to the forefront of colonial politics was the 1735 Zenger trial, in which the printer of the New York Weekly

citizens the right to free speech on the internet, as equally as it is granted offline. The internet has become the major conduit of ideas and we must protect its freedoms as readily as we did for the pamphlets and newspapers of the past. There is a vast amount of false and disagreeable speech online, as there always has been elsewhere, but the people of this country will support the ideas that withstand the test of time and criticism, while the rest are forgotten. The United States has always trusted in the laissez-faire policy, in both economics and public discourse, and the political fragmentation of today should only be further evidence that we need freedom of speech on the internet, without government interference, to share and better our ideas and become again one nation,