UNITED STATES─We have all been told that we have the Freedom of Speech, and while that is true for the most part, there are indeed some limits to that constitutional right people. For anyone who has ever studied constitutional law, you know there are limits to Freedom of Speech, in particular when it comes to the imminent lawless action test, which notes if the use of force or criminal activity is used to incite or produce imminent lawless action and can incite or produce such action.

Yeah, you can’t just blurt whatever you want without facing some potential consequences along the way. Yes, you can say what you want to people, but when it revolves around the world of violence and it being imminent that right goes out the window. However, this column is NOT about Freedom of Speech, it’s about what happens when your words enter the public sphere aka the judgement of public opinion.  In the current climate we currently live in RIGHT NOW, you say the wrong thing and you will be crucified in ways that one can least imagine.

I mean you can lose your job, you can be labeled the pariah of the country, receive tons of hate mail via social media by those who do not approve of what you have said or done and it will be publicized, retweeted and reposted to the masses. It’s worst to be hated in the sphere of public opinion than privately. Why? You cannot escape and if you do escape it, you better believe someone will bring it back up to remind you that your past will always come back to haunt you.

For reasons I cannot fathom, I don’t understand why people do Instagram Live videos or partake in posting things on social media KNOWING that people will see them, people wills scrutinize them and worst of all it can come back and totally haunt you. With smartphones people are capturing nearly everything and I mean everything on video. You say something racist, you do something racist, you make a statement someone doesn’t like, you do something no one likes, people are coming after you America and you better be prepared for it.

You can indeed say whatever you want, but you better be prepared for the backlash. That is what I don’t understand about Freedom of Speech, it is supposed to allow us to engage in healthy debate. I’m not one who is going to sit here and say it is okay to spread hate or promote violence. No. That is where someone crosses the line in my opinion and every American should be aware of that.

Like what is so bad in your life that you feel the need to bring someone else down or make them feel less than what they may already feel. Hate speech is something I will never get, and you cannot change a person’s mindset. Some people are just full of hate and until that mirror is shined on them in a way that they are horrified by what they see, hear or do, the notion of change is never happening people.

We can be vicious as a culture at times, one person’s hate towards one compares nothing to the level of hatred millions of people spew at one individual. Hate against hate does not solve the problem. Educate people, force them to understand WHY what they’ve done is wrong! When you are placed on trial by the public, you might as well dismiss the notion of having a fair trial, how you are perceived has already been determined and nothing you do is going to change that.

People will ensure you get railed to the coals for your actions and if you don’t they will make it their personal mission to make it happen, by tweeting, calling, emailing and reaching anyone you know personally and professionally. Making the situation worse is some people cave into public pressure because they don’t want that level of hate or vitriol pointed in their direction. I guess that is the good and bad thing about social media. It gives you the freedom to express your thoughts, but at the same time it can come back to haunt you in ways that you least expect because you have a history of your tweets, posts, likes and videos that people can expose anytime they wish.

Written By Jason Jones