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Speech On Freedom Of Speech

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Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech is the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. Freedom of speech is a right that every american citizen has, but nowadays it seems like people are taking it too far. In some instances such as hate speech or social media bullying people are being negatively affected, but overall it's still an important right that everyone deserves to have. When people call you a hurtful term based on your race, gender or ethnic & religious beliefs it's called hate speech & is protected under the first amendment. “People can't falsely yell fire in a theatre but can yell the N- word at a person of color. College women are told that a crowd of frat boys chanting “no means yes and yes means anal” is something they must tolerate in the name of (someone else’s) freedom” (Nielsen). This shows that there is something seriously wrong with our country right now and people are taking free speech too far. “Hate speech is doing something. It results in tangible harms that are serious in and of themselves and that collectively amount to the harm of subordination. The harm of perpetuating discrimination. The harm of creating inequality”( Nielsen). Hate speech is ruining our country and pulling us further from equality, it needs to be stopped.
People don't understand how much words affect other people, especially on social media and the web. “Then aged 17, carter urged her boyfriend conrad to kill himself by bombarding him with dozens of text messages...he was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his pickup truck” (Knox). Michelle carter sent texts to her boyfriend to kill himself and he did. In the eyes of the court she did nothing wrong, she didn't force him into the truck, or kill him herself, she simply voiced her opinion therefore she probably won't get a big sentence or the death sentence. Which leads to one of the biggest problems we have in this generation, cyberbullying. “In 2013, Ciara Pugsley killed herself in Ireland after being cyberbullied for months with messages calling her a slut and ugly. She was 15 years old…”(Hausman). There are some new laws on cyber bullying but it is still a problem. Words affect everyone differently and people don't know what's going on

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