The “marketplace of ideas”, or discovery of truth, was originally created to make sense of the freedom of speech amendment when it came to the truth. John Milton said, "when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely grapple, truth will win out. And the grappling makes the truth even stronger.”
In today’s world smartphones, digital technology, and social media have made it easy to obtain access to information and news at anytime. Smartphones have also made it easy for prejudice cultural biases to impact the news and information that is put out into the digital world. John Milton believed that nobody knew the real truth. He thought that no singular idea embodies the truth. Throughout his life, Milton was convinced that the free competition of ideas was the best way to differentiate true from false.
There are many examples of how people or companies have used fact checks to spread real information. One present day example of this is the information spread about the Covid-19 pandemic. There is so much information on digital media websites and apps about the pandemic including monitored and fact-checked information. Along with the fact-checked information, there is also a lot of misinformation out there. Misinformation and the ability to change things online can negatively alter what freedom of speech is supposed to stand for. One example of this is some Wikipedia pages that are available for anyone to edit. Many people look for fact-checked information when they are searching for the best answers to their questions.
Another example of this can be seen when we look back on the most recent presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Debates between the two candidates were broadcasted live on TV and Radio stations in order to help voters hear the opinions and ideas of both candidates. Every year, the presidential debates have a huge impact on how the election goes and how the voters view the candidates. The candidates of these debates proclaim information that has been fact-checked to ensure what they are saying is correct. After the debate, many people watching posted to social media apps backing up their favored candidate even if he was relaying false information. As John Milton said, “when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely grapple, truth will win out”.
The dictionary definition of freedom of speech is - “the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint”. If information has to be fact-checked to be believable, how can we really have freedom of speech? This ties back to Milton’s belief of the truth, and it can also be tied greatly to social media. How does the first amendment protect us on social media? On social media apps, like Twitter and Instagram, people can - for the most part - post or say whatever they want due to the first amendment.
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