"It's a Free* Country" *subject to terms and conditions*

In my Government and Politics class, we have been discussing The First Amendment over the past three days. It's been quite an interesting time, especially due to how the First Amendment is interpreted by the people versus how it’s original intention. I'm sure we have all heard, if not said ourselves, something along the lines of, "It's a free country, I can do and say what I want." And to a certain extent, that's true. The First Amendment does give you the freedom of speech and press and religion.

The First Amendment reads: 

"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 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Sounds pretty straightforward, right? However, when it was written, the two most common ways of expressing yourself was either going to a park and making a speech or writing a pamphlet and submitting it to the local press to be printed. I, for one, have never given or heard a speech in the park and certainly haven't written a pamphlet to express my feelings about government or politics. The Constitutional Framers clearly could not comprehend the existence of the Internet and social media's prevalence in today's world.

Thankfully, due to the Supreme Court's power to have judicial review, there have been new laws that interpret the vague language of the Constitution to match the changing times of today. In 1996, in the landmark case Reno v. ACLU, a unanimous Supreme Court specifically extended the First Amendment to written, visual and spoken expression posted on the Internet. *Angels singing the background.*

So that's that, right? Because of this and the First Amendment, we can say literally anything we want on any of our social media sites and face no legal repercussions whatsoever!! WAHOO!

Well, actually that's not true. According to what I've been learning in Government and Politics, your freedom of speech and press can be limited if it "compels state (government in general) interest." So what does that mean, 'compels state interest?' Let me explain. First of all, the freedom of speech and press does not apply to the private sector, meaning that anything that is privately owned (not under the direct control of the national government) can restrict your freedom speech. For example, if I worked at a gun store and I showed up to work with a "Bernie 2016" shirt on, I could potentially be forced to change my outfit, suspended or fired from my job by my superiors. Because my place of work is a part of the private sector, this would be perfectly legal. The private sector is also allowed to censor anything you post to social media during work hours or any subject that relates specifically to your place of work.

The phrase "Congress shall make no law..." doesn't literally mean: no law. The Supreme Court has created exceptions. If what you express (via Social Media or otherwise) has 1) excessive interference with others, 2) lying with malicious intent, 3) could potentially harm (mentally, physically, emotionally, etc.) children, 4) threaten public order or national security, or 5) threaten public morals, your expression is subject to legal actions against you.     

Here is a fascinating article about how student athletes, as well as professional athletes, have been subject to legal repercussions for posting on their social media during games, at socials, and on their own time. It has gotten to a point a point where it has become such a problem that the NBA prohibits athletes from posting anything on social media during game or practice times.

So, yes we do live in a country that grants us inalienable rights to freedom of speech and press, however that does not mean we have free reign on whatever we want to express at any time, especially on our social media accounts. We have to learn to take extra caution when we post things in today's world. As we are quickly becoming a generation that uses Facebook to rant about our complaints about things as small as getting the wrong order at Starbucks all the way up to serious issues such as making "jokes" about rape, we have to be constantly vigilant of what we post online.