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Editorial: Censoring free speech is un-American

At this moment in time, our First Amendment rights are under threat in ways we have not seen in at least a generation. 

The most high-profile and clearly egregious example of this –  last month’s abrupt cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following thuggish threats by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, ended with Kimmel being reinstated a week later. This was a win for free speech, but the threat is still present. 

Numerous other attacks on free speech by the Trump Administration have yielded more troubling results.

Media conglomorates, wanting to stay on Trump’s good side have complied in advance by canceling or chilling comedians’ and journalists’ free speech, and by paying the Trump Administration off when they threaten to sue the media companies.

Paramount, the parent company for “60 Minutes,” responded to the Administration’s lawsuit threat over a story about Trump opponent Kamala Harris, by donating $16 million to Trump’s presidential library. 

In response to Trump’s dislike for comedian Stephen Colbert, who routinely pokes fun at the president, Paramount announced that Colbert’s Emmy-winning “Late Night” show would end in May of next year.

The Trump Administration likewise sued the Wall Street Journal last month over their publication of information linking Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted child sex offender, though the publication is trying to get the suit thrown out.

The president tried to sue the New York Times, also last month, for undermining his business and financial prowess, though that suit was thrown out. 

And earlier this year, Trump banned the Associate Press from White House briefings, Air Force One and more because the news organization refused to comply with Trump’s call to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.  

Free speech and freedom of the press, as protected by the First Amendment, are among the most important rights in the United States. They are what ensure we can avoid a fascist government and hold our own government officials accountable for their policies and behaviors.

Censoring the news media, as well as comedians, who scrutinize and criticize government officials, is a tactic of autocrats. 

One of the main reasons we revolted against the British government in 1775 was because of the unfair treatment and taxation we endured. The press, at the time, served to spread news about the British government’s actions against the states, such as The Boston Gazette’s pieces about the The Boston Massacre. 

The action by the press ultimately led to journalists and reporters helping to fan the flames that sparked the Revolutionary War. 

Free speech and a free press allow society access to the information we need to take action on our own behalf and on behalf of protecting democracy. 

It allows us to call out the atrocities at home – against immigrants, women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and the poor – and abroad. 

Free speech is our right as American citizens, and it is a right in this country even if you are not a citizen. 

The Trump administration would like to silence dissent in the news and entertainment media, as well as in the public square by threatening, intimidating and even arresting protestors. But peaceful protest is also protected under the First Amendment. 

We at the Campus Times appreciate the privilege to practice our First Amendment rights by publishing and posting weekly and independently as we have done for the past 100+ years.

We hope to continue to do so for at least another 100 years, and we encourage our readers to practice their First Amendment rights as well by using their voices, their words, and their rights to peacefully protest whenever their Constitutional rights are under threat.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

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