Freedom of speech is under siege. Currently, the right to speak your mind is being attacked from all angles in a war of attrition. Bad faith actors are seizing every opportunity to erode our First Amendment rights, and it’s all unfolding over social media. 

We all must defend the First Amendment, especially when it’s being used by the people we disagree with. Otherwise, when it’s inevitably their turn in the seat of power, they will remember that their opponents didn’t advocate for their rights—the rights we all share equally—then they will become our oppressors. This is the cycle America is currently grappling with at every level of society—from the president passing an executive order to further prosecute people for burning the flag in protest to our local CSU professor who was forced to resign from his positions after posting about Charlie Kirk. When we silence our fellow Americans, we diminish the reach of our own voice. In degrading the other, we degrade ourselves. Either we stand for the rights of all Americans, or the United States of America falls to division.   

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension was the canary in the coal mine. Our president is upfront about his contempt for the comedians who criticize him. In the king’s court, the jester’s head is the first to roll. Donald Trump wants to cancel, to silence, his critics and to punish people for daring to speak up against him. His administration pressured ABC to cancel Jimmy Kimmel’s show when the Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, threatened to revoke the network’s broadcasting license over comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk. This was an opportunistic attack, as Trump made it clear prior that he wanted to see Kimmel cancelled.   

Despite the controversy surrounding his comments, Kimmel is back on the air thanks to the support of millions of free speech advocates. Unfortunately, this is just one example out of many where the government is attempting to influence media companies. The war on “fake” news is just the government trying to crack down on narratives that run counter to their agenda.   

Last month, the Pentagon announced new press policies, further restricting the already limited access reporters have to the Pentagon while requiring their pledge that they won’t gather information—even unclassified information—that hasn’t been authorized for release by the government. In other words, the Pentagon only wants reporters to spread their version of the story regarding military news. On the day of the deadline to sign off on this new policy, dozens of reporters turned in their Pentagon press passes. All but one news outlet refused to sign (and that single outlet was the One America News Network). Those who relinquished their passes recognized this new policy as a violation of their First Amendment rights.   

Then they were replaced by yes-men like Tim Pool, Laura Loomer, and Mike Lindell—you know, the MyPillow CEO who was previously called out in court for spreading disproven conspiracy theories about electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election. This is the kind of caliber you can expect from the next generation of the Pentagon press corps. RedState, Turning Point USA, The Gateway Pundit, LindellTV, and The National Pulse are among the partisan media outlets that agreed to collaborate with the Pentagon on their terms.   

But our country wasn’t founded by yes-men. Protesting is a fundamental American tradition. The revered rights that constitute our shared identity as Americans were earned through protests like the Boston Tea Party, the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, and the Civil Rights movement. The right to protest is protected under the First Amendment, yet those who enact this right are now portrayed as criminals. 

 Kat Abughazaleh is among six who were recently indicted for interfering with U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement operations while protesting in front of the Broadview ICE Facility in Illinois. Her alleged crime? Blocking the vehicle of an agent, which forced him “to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed” as he entered the facility. Those indicted face up to seven years in prison. Abughazaleh refuses to be intimidated by these charges and has called this trial out for what it is: “political prosecution.”  

Earlier this year, an executive order was issued requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute the burning of the American flag (if it amounts to “fighting words”). That same day, an Army veteran burned the flag in protest in front of the White House, then he was arrested. The American flag is a sacred symbol. Burning it isn’t just an act of arson. It’s an expression. A message. If the American flag stands for anything, it stands for the freedom to burn it.   

When people are banned from burning their own flags, their own property, we deny this symbol its meaning and reduce it to an object of insignificance. We then deny ourselves the freedom that our founders fought for. In Texas v. Johnson (1989), the Supreme Court recognized flag burning as a form of symbolic protest protected by the First Amendment. As offensive as this gesture is, it is ultimately an expression of our right to freedom of speech. Now, that freedom is under siege by those who were sworn in to protect it.   

Now, that duty falls to us. It’s not the President who protects you. Not the Secretary of Defense. (Or is it “War” now?) No, it’s your local US History teacher who tells the truth, the average college student with a post to share, every upstart YouTuber with a shitty microphone… We, the average People of the United States, are responsible for securing the Blessings of Liberty for all. We do so by speaking up, by criticizing censorship, but also by ensuring others are heard.   

While discussing a protest where the American flag was burned, the President of the United States said, “We took the freedom of speech away…” This should alarm all Americans. Once power is seized, the government never gives it back. You will never be good enough, complacent enough, to make it stop. That just makes it easier for them to take more from you. Remember 9/11: the government took away our privacy under the guise of the Patriot Act, and they haven’t given it back. They’ll do the same with free speech if we stay silent.   

But here’s the thing: the government never gave you that freedom. Nobody can give it to you. Your freedom is yours because you were born with it. No one can take it away, but you can give it up. Don’t let anyone—not the government, not this university, not even your mom—convince you that you can be denied your own birthright. Even if the First Amendment was struck down today, that won’t change that you are always free to speak your mind.   

Power belongs to the People. Those who govern us should be reminded that their authority is derived from our consent. It is time for every American to speak up, to share the microphone, to listen for the cries of lost liberty, and find freedom again.