Should Social Media Sites Censor Their Content?

Throughout the internet, many social media sites are censoring their content. This is to provide the viewers a more pleasant and viewer-friendly experience. There is many content around social media which contains foul language, racial slurs, nudity, and even murder. This content is blocked by many social media websites, except for some who believe that people have the right to know and read whatever they want. Some people agree with this, and say that everyone should be allowed to view foul content if they wish: “Free speech applies even to distasteful episodes” (Machado). I believe that content should be censored throughout all of social media, because people should not be subjected to all the profanity people may provide.

Having blocked content on all social media websites could drastically improve viewer satisfaction and create a safe environment for younger people. Platforms, such as “Google and Facebook prohibit content that promotes violence, terrorism, and hate speech, and reserve the right to remove it from their sites” (Biddle). Major sites are now getting involved in the process of stopping the use of negative and violent content people can say and see. The reason social media sites use “censorship isn’t about silencing critics, but protecting its users” (Mullan). The reason to censor content is not just to block violence or hatred, but to help keep everybody safe.

Many people believe that hiding the content from the people is an attack on the first Amendment- freedom of speech. However, safety should always be a first priority to everything, and with uncensored content, no one would feel safe knowing and seeing murders and racial slurs all throughout social media. Even though people are allowed to have freedom of speech, “there are exceptions to First Amendment protections of free expression, including restrictions on obscenity and the distribution of stolen media, which might subject people sharing the stolen pictures and videos of celebrities to criminal and civil liability” (Loria). Social media is not meant to be a place where you find racial profanity or watch someone be murdered, even if it invades the first Amendment.

As the years progress, more and more social networking sites are censoring their content. This is to provide safety and comfort for people who are just looking to see what is trending, or to see what their friends are up to. People do not need to sacrifice their freedom to speak out and have their opinions be heard, but if those opinions are to attack another person, then that media’s company will be forced to put a stop to it.