The First Amendment, Social Media Platforms, and Free Speech

The First Amendment, Social Media Platforms, and Free Speech

Controversies surrounding the implementation of regulations on social media platforms continue to fuel the debate on free speech regulations on social media platforms. This debate revolves around the First Amendment and the potential infringement of the protections generated from it. Accordingly, an elaboration on the necessity of free speech regulations on social media platforms while considering the First Amendment is dire in this controversial topic consideration.

Brannon, Valerie C. “Free Speech And The Regulation Of Social Media Content” (2019). Congressional Research Service. p 1 – 40. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20190327_R45650_9f272501744325782e5a706e2aa76781307abb64.pdf.

In this report, Brannon elaborates on social media regulations, the significance of their regulations, and the protection provided under the First Amendment. Social media platforms are public forums where individuals globally come together to exercise their right to free speech. There is a variety of information shared on social media platforms, including people’s ideas, news, and fallacies. As people exploit this right, they are protected by the law, and thus information shared is not censored. Barron illustrates this argument by stating, “Social media users employ these websites to engage in a wide array of protected First Amendment activity” (p1). Aside from this protection of free speech on social media, Brannon points out the protection of social media platforms under the First Amendment for various reasons, including protection from government bodies (p 3). Additionally, Brannon points out the already implemented regulations by social media companies on their users to monitor content, a significant regulator of free speech (p 2). This report is relevant to my topic because it points out the relevance of the First Amendment, the importance and extent of free speech on social media platforms, and the importance of social media platforms’ protection under the First Amendment.

Everett, Colby M. “FREE SPEECH ON PRIVATELY-OWNED FORA: A DISCUSSION ON SPEECH FREEDOMS AND POLICY FOR SOCIAL MEDIA” Lawjournal.Ku.Edu, 2018. P 114 – 145. https://lawjournal.ku.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/V28_I1_04_Everett_Web.pdf.

In this article, Everett illustrates the exercising of free speech on social media platforms that are owned privately. There is an evident difference between privately and publicly-owned social media platforms regarding the content posted on such platforms. The differences in content depend on the regulations put in place. Consistently, Everett provides examples using GoDaddy and Google, stipulating that “If Google and GoDaddy were government entities, the Court would unquestionably reverse their censorship” (p 114). Accordingly, Everett elaborates on free speech censorship or regulation on various social media platforms, focusing on privately owned social media platforms (p 119). Most social media platforms are owned by private companies that might censor users’ content as they deem fit. Subsequently, this article is appropriate for my topic because it addresses social media platforms, their regulations and censorship, and the extent of free speech on privately owned social media platforms. These aspects will aid in the research of the need for free speech regulation by providing examples of censorship that does or does not infringe on First Amendment stipulations.

Hooker, Matthew. “Censorship, Free Speech & Facebook: Applying The First Amendment To Social Media Platforms Via The Public Function Exception.” UW Law Digital Commons, 2019. P 37 – 73. https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wjlta/vol15/iss1/3?utm_source=digitalcommons.law.uw.edu%2Fwjlta%2Fvol15%2Fiss1%2F3&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.

            Hooker examines the First Amendment application on social media platforms in this article. Social media is a part of people’s daily lives with the numerous platforms at their disposal and the ease of internet access. Accordingly, people can share their ideologies on social media platforms despite it being facts, fallacies, hate speech, or cyberbullying (p 38). Consequently, Hooker elaborates on regulations used by various social media platforms for censorship of users’ content and the consequences of these regulations on the general public (p 38). Further, Hooker points out the limitation of the First Amendment due to the state action doctrine and the exceptions put in place by the Supreme Court (p 39). Consistently, this article analyses social media, free speech, and the First Amendment in terms of state action and the extent, effects, and consequences of the same. Therefore, this article is relevant to my topic because it addresses social media regulations on free speech and the extent of First Amendment protections on free speech and social media, aiding in the research of whether regulation ought to be implemented or not on social media platforms.

Works Cited

Brannon, Valerie C. “Free Speech And The Regulation Of Social Media Content.” Everycrsreport.Com, 2019. p 1 – 40. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20190327_R45650_9f272501744325782e5a706e2aa76781307abb64.pdf.

Everett, Colby M. “FREE SPEECH ON PRIVATELY-OWNED FORA: A DISCUSSION ON SPEECH FREEDOMS AND POLICY FOR SOCIAL MEDIA” Lawjournal.Ku.Edu, 2018. p 114 – 145. https://lawjournal.ku.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/V28_I1_04_Everett_Web.pdf.

Hooker, Matthew. “Censorship, Free Speech & Facebook: Applying The First Amendment To Social Media Platforms Via The Public Function Exception.” UW Law Digital Commons, 2019. p 37 – 73. https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wjlta/vol15/iss1/3?utm_source=digitalcommons.law.uw.edu%2Fwjlta%2Fvol15%2Fiss1%2F3&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.

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The First Amendment, Social Media, and Free Speech

Using the library resources you learned about in this module, locate three (3) sources that relate to your topic, which was approved in the Research Proposal Assignment.
Read each source completely. Annotate and take notes on them as you read so you can find important information later.
Create a document using the Document Formatting Guidelines provided in the Introduction Module. Title the document “Annotated Bibliography: Annotations of 3 Sources Assignment.”
Write three annotated bibliographical entries. For each source:
Provide an MLA-style work cited entry.
Write a summary in present tense that is accurate, fair, and in your own words. If you include quotations, provide a signal phrase and, if there are page numbers, an in-text citation to point your readers to the quotation in the source.
Write a brief evaluation of the source’s relevance and appropriateness for your topic. Indicate how you could use the source in your research paper.
Note: Assume your reader is not familiar with your sources. Your summary and evaluation should be easily understood by anyone who reads them.
Arrange the sources with their annotations in alphabetical order.