The First Amendment states that Congress "shall have no law respecting an establishment of a religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or press all the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances." It guarantees the right to speak and voice one's own opinions with regards to others' rights as well (Textbook). The public has the right to openly criticize the government as a means to improve the government (The Importance of Free Speech). Peoples’rights to freedom of speech directly affect the participation in public affairs. Freedom of speech, be it non speech, symbolic speech, or political speech, is a central part of the democratic government. Because the …show more content…
The first is nonspeech. Nonspeech is "online absence of a person's voice through pictures or through the Internet (Is Freedom of Speech an Absolute Right?)." This includes art photographs,films, and advertisement. Symbolic speech,which is similar to non speech, is conduct that expresses an idea. For example, the burning of an American flag or wearing an anti-war shirt is symbolic speech (Is Freedom of Speech an Absolute Right?) . The most controversial speech that is often protected by the First Amendment is hate speech. Hate speech is "speech that offense, threatens, or insults groups based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits (americanbar.org)." If hate speech insights lawless action or violence, then it is not protected. Otherwise people have the freedom to demean others and use offensive language as they please. Other restrictions to freedom of speech include speech that disturbs the educational environment, promotes lawless action or violence, or infringes on the rights of another individual; these are unprotected speech (Is Freedom of Speech an Absolute