8 Values of Free Expression - BLOG #3

When I used to think about freedom of speech, I thought it was pretty simple. Americans have the right to say what they believe, and that's it. After learning about the Eight Values of Free Expression, I realized there is much more behind that freedom. The First Amendment does not just protect our ability to speak. Freedom of expression influences how we form our identities, learn from the people around us, challenge each other's ideas and figure out what is true.

Out of the Eight Values of Free Expression, the two that stood out to me the most were "Individual Self-Fulfillment" and the "Marketplace of Ideas." I think these two are especially important today because so much of our communication and self-expression happens on the internet.

1. Individual Self-Fulfillment

Individual Self-Fulfillment is based on the idea that free expression allows people to develop their own identities. We are able to express what we believe and discover people who share similar interests and values. These steps in life eventually help us decide who we want to be.

This value immediately stood out to me because I think self-expression is such a huge part of our lives, especially for my generation. Social media has completely changed the multiple different ways we can express ourselves. People create videos, take pictures, make music, record podcasts, write blogs and curate countless other forms of content. Even something as asimple as what someone chooses to repost can say something about what they care about.

According to the Pew Research Center, 84% of American adults use YouTube, half use Instagram, and 37% use TikTok. Social media has essentially created millions of individual platforms where ordinary people can have a voice.

I especially connect with this value because I enjoy creating content and sharing my thoughts! Being able to express myself creatively has helped me learn more about what I like, what I believe and what I want to do with my talents in the future. At the same time, I think it also means having the freedom to change. We are constantly learning, and something I believe today may change as I participate in new experiences or gain new information. To sum it up, having freedom of expression gives us room to grow!

2. Marketplace of Ideas

The second value that really interested me was the Marketplace of Ideas, also known as the "Discovery of Truth." The basic concept is that instead of censoring ideas, different ideas should be allowed to compete with each other. The modern Marketplace of Ideas theory says that ideas should be tested through competition rather than having an authority decide what everyone is allowed to hear

I agree with this idea, but I also think social media has made it much more complicated!

We have access to an unbelievable amount of information. I can open my phone right now and within minutes see hundreds of different opinions about the exact same political issue, celebrity controversy, court case or breaking news story. In some ways, that is the Marketplace of Ideas working exactly as intended. We can hear multiple perspectives and decide what we believe instead of only receiving one version of a story.

However, more information does not always mean better information.

A Pew Research Center study found that 90% of American adults only sometimes encounter news they believe is inaccurate, while 51% say it is difficult to determine what is true when consuming pretty much all news. I think that creates an interesting problem... If truth and lies are competing, what guarantees that truth actually wins?

On social media, the most accurate post is not necessarily the one that gets millions of views. Sometimes the most shocking or controversial version will spread the fastest. That makes media literacy incredibly important. Freedom of expression gives us access to different viewpoints, but we still have a responsibility to check sources and actually be willing to listen to information that goes against what we already believe!

Why These Freedoms Matter

What I find the most interesting and really why I picked these two specific values is how they go hand in hand. Individual Self-Fulfillment protects our ability to develop and express our own voices, and then the Marketplace of Ideas gives those voices a place to meet and challenge each other.

Learning about the Eight Values of Free Expression has made me realize that freedom of speech isn't valuable just because it allows us to speak our minds. It's valuable because of everything that happens afterward. We learn from one another, challenge each other's beliefs, develop our identities and sometimes even change each other's minds. In a world where almost anyone can publish something to millions of people with just the press of a button, I think protecting free expression and learning how to use it responsibly is more important than ever!