The abuse in America It’s

BY ANGELINA GEVORGYAN THE MIRROR EXECUTIVE EDITOR

percent of Americans believe Biden’s 2020 victory was fraudulent. Nearly one in five remain unvaccinated against covid-19. Over 1,000 face charges for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

These startling statistics share one origin: free speech. More specifically, the abuse of free speech.

As political tensions rise, Americans grapple with the dilemma of protecting free expression while combating the spread of misinformation and hate.

Without a doubt, freedom of speech is a fundamental component of American democracy.

“The exchange of controversial ideas that clash with one another is what builds democracy,” Dr. Monicka Guevara, a sociology professor at CSUN, said. “The goal should be to live in a society where free speech is preserved, and where all of us are safe to express ourselves with our convictions and desires.”

Free speech is one of the pinnacle expressions of being a subject in a free society. Being able to express one’s opinions about political, economic, social and cultural affairs at any level is a basic human right.

“In the context of an individual, it means the freedom to express one’s own ideas and having a platform to express one’s ideas,” junior Dwayne Famenia said. “Ultimately, I think it is fundamental to human freedom, especially in the twenty-first century.”

Famenia is founder and president of the VNHS Student Task Force. His club’s mission is to educate communities about human rights abuses across the globe.

Free speech bears liberty, individuality and independence.

“Freedom of speech is among the core liberties America was founded on,” CSUN Sociology Professor Dr. Beth Jakubanis said. “We as a society are extremely diverse and we have only become more diverse in the last 50 years. Our diversity can be our strength, or it can be our downfall. If we head down the road of taking away freedom of speech, we begin to live according to the rules of totalitarianism, communism and other forms of government that do not allow for diversity and at that point we begin to become our own worst enemy instead of using our diversities and our differences to be the strength that creates and weaves together a stronger society.”

Despite this, hate speech is a branch diverging from this freedom that yields more harm than benefit.

Typically, hate speech is characterized as any form of expression through which a person intends to incite hatred against another person or group of people on the basis of their race, religion, sexual identity, gender identity, ethnicity, disability or national origin. Currently, however, hate speech is not legally defined under U.S. interpretation depending on

The intention behind someone’s indicator of whether that speech

It is important to consider legacy of what a word or phrase it relates to groups that are marginalized have sociologically less power alizing and assessing the impacts able populations is key.

“You can’t really delineate speech in a very clear way,” Dr. tant sociology professor at CSUN, to be contextual and situation going to be about what groups how.”

In America, hate speech is by the First Amendment, which ment to defend even the most discourse that may cause others grief. According to the law, hate criminalized if it directly incites is composed of detailed threats against a particular person or Hate speech has wide-reaching the nation. While it can be utilized groups, it can also be used to socio-emotional level.

Millions of K-12 students each hate speech, hate crimes or assault, U.S. Government Accountability school year, approximately 1.3 to 18 were hatefully targeted on national, religious, gender or According to The Mirror’s survey, dents polled have been victims point in their lives.

As a psychotherapist and apy Center, Dr. Jakubanis believes hate speech exploit their freedom and justify the harm they do

“It pains me to see people ues and using them to hurt other speech means that you can speak your heart, but that you cannot rights when you’re doing it. My the point that I violate your rights.”

If someone is being negatively nistic, adversarial and potentially speech isn’t just free speech in doing harm. Such scenarios has gone awry, and that someone regulate the situation.

While federal laws do their between free and hate speech, issue begs the question of whether regulate speech without infringing free speech.

“Any democracy is going to mos said. “We can try to locate some of the most excess forms