The New Dimension of the First Amendment

I strongly believe that social media has played a huge role in the usage of our 6 freedoms as are listed in the first amendment. The internet has allowed people a voice of effectiveness and non-suppression that can be used for good or bad, or just plain for opinion. So, with this, I believe that social movements such as Woodstock or the March on Washington are so much more possibly through the use of technology and social media.

With this, the title of this post is so because when thinking about the six freedoms of the first amendment (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.), one can clearly see the relation between using these exact freedoms, and not only in America, their country of origin but globally, in an effort to gain these freedoms for other people. So continuing with this theory, I believe that technology opens a new dimension for the first amendment, allowing it to be carried out and defined in new and never-before-seen ways.

As concluded in both of the above videos (and I wholeheartedly believe these videos to possess the ability to stand alone and speak for themselves without any further explanation by me), technology as a vessel for social change and social movements can be either a negative or a positive, and to prevent this risk, the solution is to instead use technology and social media as a ways of communication in a larger discussion on how to progressively and positively make the change that is desired for good.