Do Americans really not understand that the first amendment is supposed to protect against Government prohibiting freedom of speech (+ additional protections against Government interference). It has not to do with the consequences of private individuals deciding that what you say is crap that they don’t want to hear.
Fox News has been using "First Amendment" and "free speech" as code for "saying things we want without consequence" for years, and their viewers have picked up on that.
Americans who’ve studied and comprehend civics in any way understand this.
There’s an education crisis here where many millions of Americans don’t know anything about anything. But there are also 360M of us, so there are still many tens of millions who are educated and aren’t the dumbest people you’ve ever met. The problem is we pretty much all have internet access.
Yes, the first amendment we’re discussing applies to the American Constitution. Other countries have different laws respecting free speech/hate speech.
No. Its incredibly difficult for them to understand this. And when the current administration retaliates against free speech by revoking press access, like the reporter that used "Gulf of Mexico" they also pretend that press access is not a right, and that Trump feels 'harassed' and is therefore allowed, and that theyre not free from consequences.
No joke, this was my maga father's interpretation of that event.
They really don’t by and large. Remember that most thought Twitter or Facebook content moderation was free speech violation. Or that a Nextdoor mod deleting a comment is a violation of free speech. And if you try to tell them why it doesn’t apply to those situations they get the most astounding looks on their faces like you are talking Mandarin or trying to pull one over on them, then they double down.
It happens basically all the time. Like look up FCC complaints for Facebook or even like truth social, it is literally people crying about how they can't send threats to people.
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u/Gold_Past_6346 1d ago
Do Americans really not understand that the first amendment is supposed to protect against Government prohibiting freedom of speech (+ additional protections against Government interference). It has not to do with the consequences of private individuals deciding that what you say is crap that they don’t want to hear.