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Im one of the most fervent supporters of the First Amendment that you can find. I love that we Americans have a right to think, speak, and practice the way that we feel we want to. As I continue to travel to different countries, I repeatedly kiss the founding fathers in my mind for giving us the freedoms to be individuals as opposed to living in a country that is of one belief system.

That being said, I think people are losing the idea of what the First Amendment particularly, freedom of speech actually means.

According to Dictionary.com, freedom of speech is defined as the right of people to express their opinions publicly withoutgovernmental interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitementto violence or rebellion, etc.In more digestibleterms, this means that you, as a free American, can say things like, I hate my president, or, Hillary Clinton should be jailed, or, all politicians are morons who benefit from the money and ignorance of the middle class without the government coming after you. How great is that? We are allowed to freely criticize our own government. I know many of us do this on the regular; I am no silent critic of Trump in my daily life, and I definitely wasnt a silent critic of Obama either. I also am not a silent praiser when they do something worthy or praise. Either way, I can say whats on my mind about our political institutions without fear of being jailed, tortured, or killed. You can too.

Heres what freedom of speech does not mean. It does not mean that people cannot question or call you on your thoughts. If you stand in the street and say that you love Donald Trump, someone has the right to challenge you on that. They have the right to call you an idiot. Is it mean? Absolutely. Is it ridiculous that we live in such a society where insults are our main form of debate? One hundred percent, friends. But its the truth. Freedom of speech means that you, and anyone else, can challenge someone on their thoughts. It can get dicey. While you are allowed to express your thoughts, other people can express their thoughts too. Whether you disagree with them or not, they hold the same rights you do.

Nothing makes me more annoyed than when someone on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media site gets behind their keyboard, types something, and then when the heat gets high, they use, but my freedom of speech.. They say that because they have the right to free speech, they should not be challenged. That is NOT what freedom of speech is. Freedom of speech simply means that Trump, Obama, Bush, or any future president that we have cannot throw you in jail or make you disappear forever because you said something hostile against the state. Freedom of speech prevents a situation like that of North Korea or China, where people are held for speaking badly of their leaders. It is not a card for you to spew your opinions without repercussions. It is not a right for you to say whatever you feel like in your daily life to other people and not be corrected. Sure, you wont be thrown in jail, but I can guarantee youll either annoy someone or youll be embarrassed when they correct you and/or tell you where to shove your rude words.

The biggest thing to remember? We are human beings. Opinions are not right and/or wrong. I could be very wrong in a lot of the things Ive written in my life. My opinions could be based on fallacies, I could be seeking information from the wrong places. Heck, I might even have opinions that are based on prejudices that I dont even see. You might be in the same boat. Life is a learning experience. Like anything in life, your words and opinions develop with you as you grow, mature, and learn. You will never stop learning or at least, I hope you never stop learning. Theres too much knowledge out there for you to know everything before death.

So the next time you see someone trying to play but my freedom of speech, or even worse, you play that game; try to remember what freedom of speech was originally made for. Originally, America was under a monarch. We created these rights so we could give ourselves the freedom we didnt have under British rule. Its fine to have opinions. Its fine to voice them. Just please remember that people can challenge you. You have the right to defend yourself too. But discourse (polite discourse, of course) and debate are what we are made of. A single, concrete mindset is the exact thing we do not want as Americans.

With free speech comes a ton of responsibility.

More here:
But the First Amendment. - Albany Times Union (blog)