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Is Your Freedom of Speech Under Threat?

Jason Henry
5 min readJan 20, 2021

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Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Due to Donald Trump being removed from virtually all social media platforms, people on the political left and right have begun to question if this was an affront to his First Amendment rights, specifically, the right to free speech.

I’m not American but in the past I have marveled at how much Americans are taught about their Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Currently, I’m marveling how much they have forgotten.

Freedom of expression is also an international human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). There was talk of the U.S. wanting to leave the United Nations but that hasn’t happened, and so they’re still signed off on the UDHR’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Trump’s expulsion from social media has gripped the fearful minds of many into thinking their opinions may lead to their own removal from the Internet. But first, let’s go over what the laws state.

The First Amendment states:

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.

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Jason Henry
Jason Henry

Written by Jason Henry

Counselling Psychologist | Current Writer | Constant Learner | “By your stumbling the world is perfected.”

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