Freedom of the press is one of the seminal rights, that Americans have. When the 1st Amendment was so proposed and ratified, that freedom of the press, was something that was clearly evident to all, because there were a multitude of local papers, pamphlets, and speeches so made and then thus disseminated through the print media. At that time, there was no national newspaper, nor was there quite obviously radio, television, or the internet. Further to the point, those that were the publishers of newspapers, were typically fairly ordinary people, and never were they conglomerates or corporations. When we fast forward to the present time, though, the mainstream press is nearly completely controlled by major corporations, of which, thereby the views so being propagated are almost always going to be in accordance with the views of the ownership of those media companies, along with such typically being in harmony with one of the two major political parties in America. In other words, those that believe that they are getting the full story, taking into account all sides of a particular issue, as well as its nuances, are seldom getting that at all, from mainstream media, for mainstream media is mainly concerned about making a profit, in addition to being in good adherence to the desires of the most important government officials that they willingly interact with, often on a quid pro quo basis.
Nowadays, then, the only true freedom of the press, is going to primarily come from those that are not associated with the mainstream media, and are often utilizing all the ways and means to disseminate their particular viewpoint through the various avenues so available to them; such as primarily through the internet, as well as through apps so structured that can robustly provide such, also. This thus would normally mean, that the freedom of the press, has never been as vibrant as it would be today, because the wherewithal as well as the tools so needed, to disseminate a given viewpoint are relatively inexpensive to obtain, and, of which, the potential audience to such, can be rather large. Yet, the Damocles sword so held over those of independent media, is not only the potential lawsuits that they must respond to, in regards to libel or slander; but significantly the fact that this government has determined that “disinformation,” and “misinformation,” as determined by that government, should not be permitted.
In 1776, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, stated “That the freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.” Yet, in fit, form, and function, this government and its obedient servants to such, are absolutely determined to control the narrative, of which, they recognize that the instrument that is hurting their desired viewpoint from being the prevailing sole voice of what is so being propagated, is the internet and the apps that go along with such. The governmental angle to thus get their way, is to emphasize that misinformation and disinformation, are all around us, and that only the government knows what is really true, and by virtue of that knowledge, thus has the right to preclude or to remove the publication of all that which has been classified as misinformation or disinformation. In short, we live ever more under the tyranny of a despotic government, that will broker no dissent, of any of that which lies outside what is considered to be acceptable to them. In truth, despotic governments, the world over, are interested only in obedience and control, and care not a whit about seeing disclosed any alternates to the “truth” that they want you to believe.