Campus Threats to Freedom of Speech - Mizzou

In a society fueled upon technological advancement, social media has created an outlet for individuals to freely voice their opinions while taking away the element of confrontation. On social media, many individuals feel that they are free to express themselves in a fashion that is, perhaps, more blunt than if they were to confront an individual face-to-face. This is because social media takes away the element of interpersonal confrontation. Therefore, social media allows for individuals to abuse their rights to freedom of speech in a harmful way.

Earlier this month, a Mizzou student abused his freedom of speech in a threatening way, through making "terrorist threats" against another student, which resulted in his arrest. The student used Yik Yak, an anonymous social media site in which users are not held accountable for their speech. On the site, his post proved to be harmful through stating that he was going to "shoot every black person I see". Another post read "Some of you are alright. Don't go to campus tomorrow."

Although individuals should have the right to express themselves freely on campus, without being overly monitored and repressed by the university, this form of speech should be monitored and banned. There is a prominent difference between freedom of speech and hate speech, and as John Stuart Mill argues in his Harm Principle, individuals do not have the right to harm others through their speech. In this case, students at Mizzou were indeed harmed through having their feelings and rights of safety on campus violated.

source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/11/social-media-threats-increase-tension-at-university-missouri/

Carly Chalmers