The First Amendment was passed by Congress on September 25, 1789 and states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
This Amendment was created nearly 232 years ago, long before the internet and social media were even a thought, so that begs the question, does the internet and social media fit into the First Amendment?
The internet and social platforms provide vast resources for both adults and minors, but that poses a unique challenge when regulating freedom of speech. That’s because it allows users the ability to quickly spread and ingest information – be it factual or dangerous.
I’ve grown up on the Internet, from my keyboarding class in Kindergarten to my social media class in college, the internet has grown and evolved tremendously. With that growth, and millions of users on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, it has brought out some bad actors, including internet trolls, which essentially are people who intentionally try to upset others with their comments and/or statements on a forum.
Many of us have the idea that these social platforms are public forums and as users we are allowed to post whatever we want and think because we are protected by the First Amendment and its guarantee of free speech. As we know, the First Amendment gives people the right to say almost anything they want in public forums, but Google, YouTube, Facebook, and the like aren't public forums. They're private companies that have First Amendment rights of their own, including the right not to publish something and/or remove posted content.
Despite how much of a part social media plays in our daily lives, they are not the government, and if they want to delete a comment or remove an ‘inappropriate’ video, they can. For example, YouTube, which is owned by Google, places an age restriction on some of the content they have on their platform that they decided was best not viewed by minors.
Schools also have a place in this Internet vs. First Amendment clash. We saw this play out a few weeks ago in the news when Brandi Levy, a freshman cheerleader in Mahanoy City, Pa., blasted a vulgar post on Snapchat. In the days following the post, her school suspended her from the cheer team for the academic year for breaching their code of conduct. Levy’s punishment following her post has become a major case at the U.S. Supreme Court. This case will show the boundaries that schools can push in terms of discipline and the rights students have to free speech.
For Levy, she said she never wanted her life to be in the limelight, but now says the Supreme Court could use her case to assert the rights of teenagers nationwide.
"I just want the Supreme Court to realize that every person and every student and young adults have their freedom of speech and that the schools can't punish students for what they say outside of school and not in school grounds or school hours," she said.
School officials disagree.
"The First Amendment is not a territorial straitjacket that forces schools to ignore speech, that disrupts the school environment," the school district writes in its brief to the Supreme Court. "Coaches and school administrators, not federal courts, should decide whether the coach can bench someone or ask a player to apologize to teammates," it said.
At the end of the day, most go to social media as a way to connect with others with similar interests and experiences. Its goal is to allow for a free and open channel for dialogue but if social platform deletes a comment, post, or removes you from entirely, remember that websites don't ‘owe’ you a place to say anything you want. Users should think about what they are saying before hitting ‘publish’ because you never know how your comment or post will be perceived on the other side.
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About the Author: Taylor Genter Taylor is the Marketing Specialist at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.