Promote Innovation

Promote Innovation

When you think about the First Amendment, what is the first thing you can say about it? It wouldn't be a surprise If freedom of speech was your first initial thought. The United States is a place where most Americans cherish the First Amendment because not only do we get to have the freedom to say what we want, but the freedom to say what we want in the press, assemble with others to make our voices reach all over the world, practice our religion as we please, and of course, tell the government no. Citizens have the freedom to be unapologetically themselves and without this First Amendment, the choice to say what we want and be who we are would just not be a thing today. There are eight values of free expression and each of them connects to what is happening in the real world. The one value that resonated with me the most was Promote Innovation where Jack Balkin talks about how free speech that is appreciated and preserved by a community helps people become more creative and makes society more interesting and diverse. Promote innovation really does connect to the world we live in today because social media has been used as a tool for people to go out there, create different content for the world to see, and give us a platform to share any message we want.

Apps like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have boosted creativity daily. While anyone can go out there a come up with new ideas to share, stealing content and those ideas have become quite problematic now more than ever before. Influencers on TikTok like Addison Rae and Charlie D'amelio have risen to fame just by executing dances in front of their phones, but how they have gained their popularity is the problem. The famous TikTok dance, Savage, was created by Kearra Wilson and she shared her moves on her TikTok. Naturally many did the dance but once Charlie and Addison did the dance, their popularity grew as well as dance. Famous TikTokers have a habit of not giving credit to regular TikTokers for the dances or videos which gives an impression that they are taking credit for ideas that they did not come up with. While Addison gets to perform on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and gain more exposure, the original creator is not being noticed.

 Not only is this a problem against regular TikTokers, but the content is being stolen mostly from black creators. After noticing how white creators are being put on a higher pedestal without giving credit more than black creators who receive little to no recognition for their ideas, black TikTokers collectively went on a boycott by not creating viral dances. It was a message to show that black creators set most of the trends and are tired of their ideas being taken just for others to do the same thing plus receiving so many benefits without giving the proper credit to the originators. Raven Maragh-Lloyd talked with CNN about this issue, and claimed that the problem is really culture appropriation and how TikTok is formatted, it makes it easy to copy others without giving credit. In the end, however, Addison acknowledged that she would collab with some of the original creators of the dances and that they all deserve their credit. Even though Addison made this comment, the fight to give black creators more opportunities is far from over. 

It may just seem like dances are not as important, but the meaning behind taking ideas from others without giving recognition is much deeper. We are all unique and have our own ideas to share with the world whether it’s a message, a video, or even a dance. Jack Balkin's theory on promote innovation is simply us being expressive in our own right. Free speech allows us to have our opinions and ideas. If some of us feel like we cannot put out our own content or ideas without it being taken then what is the point of free speech? Day by day, we are recognizing these issues and these platforms help us talk about them; especially if the problem is the platform itself. Needless to say, I am glad that we are able to have free expression because, without it, our world would not be as diverse as it is today.