Tell us what free speech means to you at a time when that's up for debate | Opinion
Should people be allowed to say whatever they want online or should social media apps have protections in place?
When I was a college journalist I got in trouble because I wrote a column mocking the campus financial aid office.
They said I was inciting violence. I said I was joking. Let's not get lost in the details.
But it quickly became a conversation over free speech and what an opinion writer can say. That was more than 20 years ago but it never left me.
The debate of what speech is protected has always been a staple of the American experience. The pendulum can swing, depending on the political climate.
Anybody can see that we're right in the middle of such a swing, mostly on social media.
Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of META, and Elon Musk, who bought Twitter and renamed it X, are now at the tip of the free speech spear and what is being allowed to be said on our social media apps.
This is the conversation we're hoping you can help us with in an upcoming Paste BN Opinion Forum. We would love for you, yes you, to fill out the form below or send an email response to forum@usatoday.com and answer any of these questions:
- What does free speech in America mean to you? Why?
- Do you think American has a free speech problem? Why?
- Social media has become the stage for the fight over free speech. What do you want to see happen?
Louie Villalobos is the director of Opinion for Gannett. You can find him ignoring people who say he's a DEI hire, because it's their right to say that. So, send it.