Argument Against Censorship In America

Words: 483
Pages: 2

Growing up in China, I’ve experienced what it’s like to be without the freedoms and liberties guaranteed in America. Everything you say or post online is being monitored and any malevolent statement towards the government will result in one’s disappearance. In the United States, the bill of rights ensures the freedom of expression, so why is it that I feel less free to speak my mind here than anywhere else? In truth, censorship in America is far worse. So, if given the choice to uninvent anything, I would uninvent the concept of censorship.
Even though I have the right to the freedom of speech, I’ve never felt free to say anything in public. In America, censorship is done by society rather than by the government. According to ABC News, Justine Sacco, the communications director for Match.com, was fired for a tweet she made joking about how privileged white people are. Despite the fact that it was a private tweet made to her friends, she received major backlash from social media after the tweet was leaked. The public condemned Sacco and her family and ruined her career.
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At the utterance of any statement remotely politically incorrect, members of society will work non-stop to tear them apart. Subsequently, people are forced to calculate every social media post to ensure that it won’t result in their condemnation. My teachers feel pressured to sanitize their messages to their friends or former students – my friends deliberate over whether if something is acceptable to post online – my seminar class spend more time mitigating and circumventing the topic rather than discussing it – and I find myself hesitating to speak on controversial