Freedom Forum Institute > First Amendment Center > Primers > Free Expression on Social Media
by Lata Nott, Executive Director, First Amendment Center
Updated by Brian Peters, Intern, First Amendment Center
The First Amendment protects individuals from government censorship. Social media platforms are private companies, and can censor what people post on their websites as they see fit. But given their growing role in public discourse, it’s important to ask ourselves–what exactly are their censorship policies? How do they compare to each other, and to the First Amendment’s protections?
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HateHate speech is speech that offends or attacks people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, disease, or other traits.
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ObscenityObscenity is famously hard to define, but in general refers to content that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time.
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MisinformationMisinformation is false or inaccurate information. Examples of misinformation include false rumors, insults and pranks, while examples of more deliberate disinformation include malicious content such as hoaxes, spearphishing and propaganda. Also referred to as fake news.
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HarassmentHarassment refers to unwanted behavior that makes someone feel degraded, humiliated or offended. We do not define it to include true threats of violence, which are banned by all of the platforms below and are not protected by the First Amendment.
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