In the last several years in America there has been a great deal of attention in the media concerning the conduct of social media vendors such as Facebook and Twitter. When first presented to the public, to gain trust and membership with the public, these social media outlets claimed to represent free speech ideals which promised a forum for the community to speak digitally to each other member within the forums. Yet recently, these vendors have censored certain political voices that the social media outlets claim have violated their “community standards”. It is as if to silence those they object to, regardless or veracity of the statements made and whether they speak true words or not.
As a matter of fact, social media and the news media cooperated in suppressing stories to favor one presidential candidate over another in the lead-up to the 2020 election. There is a verified true story about a laptop computer owned by Hunter Biden (the president’s son) and abandoned in a computer repair shop was suppressed by the media on a broad scale. When the laptop was opened, the evidence showed links from the Biden Family and the 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden to shady foreign government bribes and influence peddling. The FBI even paid social media giant Twitter over $3 million to keep the story suppressed on Twitter until well after the November 2020 election. In an effort to collude with this government scheme, Twitter even hired many former members of the FBI and CIA to help suppress the information that would have exposed the alleged crimes of the Biden Family and candidate Joe Biden. Many news media outlets joined Twitter in suppressing this incredible story exposing high level government corruption. The above allegations stem from the Hunter Biden Laptop evidence which has recently sparked a House of Representatives Impeachment Inquiry of President Joe Biden. An “impeachment inquiry” enables House investigators to subpoena witnesses and financial records from the banks involved in the allegations. The actions of law enforcement authorities seem to be upside down in this scandal. What is the proper role of our Federal Law Enforcement Agencies here? Should our country’s highest law enforcement officials hide corruption, or should they expose corruption? Should law enforcement exercise their version of “community standards” to favor one party over another in an election?
Such cancellation or suppression of stories happens at the personal level too. The social media outlets shout out that “words are violence” and political speech should be suppressed. In these forums, there is no more room for polite civil debate of issues. Diversity of thought and speech is restricted. The social media companies act like it is time for one side to shut up and sit down, forever. Is this a violation of the free speech rights of those silenced, as protected in the First Amendment? How would you respond if your writings were censored or you where not allowed to freely participate in the forum you were initially invited to join? Should any individual or any group have the right to silence you? Please answer these questions.
The paper must be 2 to 3 pages in length, 12 font, and double-spaced. Please list 3 sources, the footnote documentation must include the name of the author, the title of the article, the publisher, and the date. You can number the footnotes in the paper and then list the footnotes on the last page, or on a last “works cited” page. You may use MLA, Chicago, or APA formats for your footnotes
