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The Influence Of Freedom Of Speech In America

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In an ever changing society, it is common to see new policies and laws popping up left and right, but unbeknownst to many, there is an agenda being pushed by those in power to sway the American people through new practices. As a result, the freedoms granted to every American are threatened in an attempt to control the population. Control is the power to influence other people’s thinking and the power to pacify those who voice opposition. In America, the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and the press, is currently being targeted and undermined through recent laws and societal practices in an attempt to control the population. It is important for the people to recognize and stand against this, or else, we all risk losing our …show more content…

This man is perhaps the most politically incorrect candidate to ever run for the President of the United States. He is notorious for being outspoken on immigration, yet what happens when he and his supporters exercise their freedom of speech? They get called, by Hillary Clinton, a, ‘basket of deplorables. . . Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it’ (Ferlaino). The most frightening part about it all is that many people agree with what Clinton said and label just about everyone associated with Trump as such. Freedom of speech is threatened by political correctness. Donald Trump is a prime example of defying political correctness; he speaks his mind and stands up for his beliefs. However, the ramifications are enormous. Labels like, “racist”, “sexist”, and “xenophobic” are unjustly tossed around, and many Americans have been discriminated against because of these labels. Attacks on Trump supporters have ranged from David Wilcox, a white man from Chicago, being punched and kicked for voting Trump to a high school student, in Maryland, getting beaten by his classmates for wearing a Trump hat (Caruso). It is true that the First Amendment allows people to exercise free speech as long as …show more content…

In the recent presidential election, fake news has been widely circulated, and now, there is a dangerous movement to counter it. However, fake news must first be acknowledged as a serious problem. On December 4, 2016, Edgar Welch carried an assault rifle into Comet Ping Pong, a pizzeria in Washington, DC, and fired a shot under the premise of liberating child sex slaves held captive by Hillary Clinton there. The entire conspiracy, dubbed as “pizzagate”, was perpetrated through social media and fake news outlets in an attempt to discredit Secretary Clinton (Siddiqui and Svrluga). This single event shows how dangerous fake news has become and how it has affected the lives of everyday Americans. Here is a man from North Carolina that has been influenced by fake news circulating the internet, and as a result, he endangers the lives of others and his own in hopes of proving a false rumor true. However, the most worrying part about fake news is how the government is about to limit freedom of the press under the guise of countering fake news. On December 23, 2016, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. However, hidden within the NDAA was a different act titled, “Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016 (S. 2692).” This act provides funding for the US Government to counter

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