30 Day Challenge (17-30) How far should we as a society go in the name of our right to freedom of expression? We’ve witnessed a massive revolution in terms of means in which people can express their opinion lately not only with the popularization of the internet but also with the creation of social media. Not so long ago if someone from a remote part of the world had something important to share regarding something or someone and knew that such information could somehow impact the lives of a great number of people the only option this person would have was to resort to mainstream media. The problem with mainstream media is that not rarely it has its own agenda and opinion on most subjects which by default makes it bias. Also, it’s not so simple to reach it and it’s usually expensive, therefore, having your ideas and opinions expressed through these media is only possible if one is willing to pay a huge amount of money for it. Even in this, the whole thing should not go against the views of the media in which the news or opinion are being transmitted. Therefore it’s fair to say that social media has come about as a means to close the gap between someone who has something to share and his intended public. No more middlemen. Free of speech one might say. It is indeed a great tool and ultimately can be quite effective in terms of reach and speed the information can be spread at a cost near to zero. Having said that, one thing we need to admit is the amount of misinformation that has been spread around and taken as true by most of its recipients through social media. The fact that it’s free of charge and accessible to virtually anyone, people have been spreading false rumours and destroying careers. Virtual bullying by what’s known as Trolls on social media has been the cause of a number of suicides. All this has taken place in the name of freedom of speed and this, in my opinion, for what it’s worth, is the dark side of the social media. Basically, the fact that people are allowed to post whatever they feel like on social media anonymously allows these types of things to happen. I am, by no means not against social media in particular and freedom of speech as a whole,but I just think that like alcohol, it should be used responsibly and the best way to do it is by banning anonymity on posts so that whoever decides to spread some information around may become liable for it. Be it true or false.