Extra Judicial Killing in Bangladesh

Extra Judicial Killing in Bangladesh How interesting it is that in Bangladesh the elite force named as Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] kills the arrested persons by the name of cross-fire and name them the criminals. Extra-judicial, thus the term is used to state the killings. It is called extra judicial because of its type, which works as a process outside the judiciary system of Bangladesh. Farid Ahmed in a non periodical web journal (2010), Such killings are often described in police reports as involving crime suspects who resisted arrests or attacked the police. Many of the victims, human rights groups charge, were killed while in police custody. But in their official statements, police said they were killed in the crossfire during violent incidents in prison facilities. The police were compelled to open fire at those attacking them, they said.  [1]   According to the Human Rights Watch (2006): One of the first publicized RAB killings was of the wanted criminal suspect Pichchi Hannan in Dhaka on August 6, 2004. This is when the era of extra judicial killing has started and still going on. Not only the RAB but also some other armed forces are involved in this kind of activity.  [2]   Whether extrajudicial killing is a myth or is it a reality is the main motive for me to conduct this research. A lot of people are being killed by the armed force, often named as elite force, but is it truly extra judicial killing or is the crossfire the reality, which one is true? We see a lot of incidents addressing the extra-judicial killings everyday when looking at the newspaper. Theres hardly any day with no crossfire news, and thus I think people should be clear about the extra judicial killing matter and to reveal the original fact as I conduct the research. My research will give a clear cut idea about the extra judicial killing and the scenario of our countrys perspective. However, it is often said by the authority and also by the political leaders that these so called extra-judicial killings are only the unfortunate deaths of the suspected criminals in the cross-fire. According to the Bangladesh Media article No extrajudicial executions carried out: RAB DG (2010): The director-general of the RAB, Hasan Mahmud Khandakar, addressing the media at the sixth anniversary of the elite law enforcement body in its headquarters on Sunday, told newsmen, A total of 622 suspected criminals were killed in by the RAB in crossfire across the country in the last six years, including 14 suspected criminals who were killed in the last three months. The RAB chief, however, claimed that no extra-judicial killing was carried out by the battalions personnel in the last six years.  [3]   The issue of extra-judicial killing is one of the big concerns for a country like Bangladesh where the chance of misuse of the theme, under the name of crossfire is highly possible for a 3rd world country like us. The concern of different human right organizations have argued about the extrajudicial killings and raised a lot of questions. My report will reveal whether the extra-judicial killing under the name of crossfire is true or just a myth. The History of Extra Judicial Killing As its name suggest, it is done outside the framework of the judiciary system of Bangladesh, which is the killings of a suspected criminal under the custody of the armed force, often using the term self protection or accusing the suspected criminal to escape; which is a violation of the rule of law. From the very beginning of Bangladeshs birth in 1971, different political parties used their political power to impetus the killings by the armed forces and used these forces in in violation of the law to consolidate power and maintain control. The continuous process started during the time period of BNP led govt. after forming coalition with three smaller parties: Jamaat-e-Islami (which won 4.3 percent), Jatiya Party-Naziur (1.1 percent), and Islamic Okye Jote (0.7 percent) in 0ctober, 2001. After taking power, to fulfill the one election agenda to fight against crime, and to tackle criticism from people, the govt. then deployed fourty thousand military personal to fight crime under the name of Operation Clean Heart. Thousands of people were arrested and at least 50 people were reported to be dead under their custody. Due to the failure of the operation, the government then decided to form an elite force group with a special unit of police with commando training called the Rapid Act ion Team, or RAT, which is now known as Rapid Action Battalion or RAB. As stated by the law, The main tasks of the RAB, according to the law, are to: Provide internal security Conduct intelligence into criminal activity Recover illegal arms Arrest criminals and members of armed gangs Assist other law enforcement agencies Investigate any offense as ordered by the government.  [4]   According to the Asian Human Rights Commission: The army killed 58 people in custody. See Asian Legal Resource Center and Asian Human Rights Commission, Lawless Law-enforcement the Parody of Judiciary in Bangladesh, August 2006.According to the Bangladesh NGO Forum for Secular Bangladesh, the army killed 53 people in custody and physically abused 7,000. See Forum for Secular Bangladesh, Violation of Human Rights by the Coalition Government of Bangladesh, September 2006.  [5]   However, the Operation Clean Heart did not succeed in bringing crime under adequate control, and vigilantism against so-called criminals continued. Hence the special police force proved unsuccessful in combating crime due to the lack of trained professionals, disorganization, and corruption in the force. Structuring from the experience from Operation Clean Heart, the government took steps to give the military a law enforcement role. Then, later on the RAB was created with the motto to fight criminals and reduce crime. According to a human rights lawyer: Critics complained that, rather than building a new crime-fighting force, the government should undertake efforts to reform law enforcement and the courts. Creating RAB, they feared, would undermine the police. With Operation Clean Heart in mind, some worried about using the military for civilian policing. They saw RAB as a way for the government to deploy the army for policing tasks, with one lawyer even calling it martial law in disguise. Other Facts Various human right watchdogs claimed that 1,142 victims have so far been slain in extrajudicial killings since 24 June, 2004 when the RAB began its journey by killing people in crossfire. Among the 1,142 victims, 149 were killed in 2004, 340 in 2005, 290 in 2006, 130 in 2007, 136 in 2008 and 97 in 2009. During the immediate-past emergency regime which continued for about two years, 322 people were killed in an extrajudicial manner. On the other hand, DG of RAB claimed that no extra-judicial killing is carried out but some criminals were caught in crossfire during the battle. He also claimed that 6,931 firearms have been seized by the RAB in the last six years 580 in 2004, 909 in 2005, 889 in 2006, 1,416 in 2007, 1,374 in 2008, 1,338 in 2009 and 425 in the last three months. The RAB arrested a total of 64,664 suspected criminals, after conducting drives throughout the country, on charges of various crimes including murder, kidnapping, extortion, tender manipulation, militancy and possession of illegal firearms. Of them 2569 in 2004, 4929 in 2005, 7277 in 2006, 13569 in 2007, 13378 in 2008, 16730 in 2009 and 4012 in last three months of 2010.  [6]   The attitude of people in law enforcement agencies has not changed, at least on the issue of extra judicial killings despite the judiciary ordering them to stop killing people under the guise of crossfire, encounter, and gunfight. Although much of such action has stopped, it is not a sustainable solution. But the decision has been hailed an eye-opener by many including human rights organizations. The High Court issued the suo motto order over extra judicial killings on November 17. It gave the government two weeks, initially, to explain why the killing of two brothers, Lutfor and Khairul Khalasi by law enforcement agencies in Madaripur on Nov.16 should not be declared extrajudicial. The government has yet to reply and the Attorney General has sought more time, presumably until the court resumes on January 3, 2010. During the year although there were some positive activities by the government, most sectors in the country were devoid of any human rights, the rule of law and good governance. Religious minorities were oppressed and press freedoms were violated almost every other day.  [7]   Only a few human rights organizations have long been asking the government to stop the killings, terming them extrajudicial. Moreover, the High Court of Bangladesh, on June 29, 2009, High Court of Bangladesh asked the government to explain why killing people without a trial, in the form of extrajudicial killings, is not being declared as illegal, and why measures are not being taken against the perpetrators. After this ruling, we still havent seen anything happen. However in recent times, after the Awami League came to power, many thought the Awami govt. will abolish the RAB. But, in march 2006, Seikh Hasina said, But we will not do so. Rather Rab will be given a special assignment to capture corrupt people.  [8]   Extrajudicial killings continue even in violation of the High Courts ruling. How can they continue? Its very alarming for human rights, democracy and the right to life. And why is the High Court silent regarding this gross human rights violation? Both governmental and nongovernmental sources have said that the death toll has reached 133 from such extrajudicial killings labeled as crossfire killings, encounter killings or gunfight killings by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the police since Jan. 6, when the Awami League-led government assumed office. In Bangladesh, we have a so-called democracy, but there is no rule of law if we consider extra judicial killing. Every day sees more killings of citizens by the state machinery, killings which are both well-planned and covered up. However, RAB never said that its extrajudicial killing. In contrast, Rab Director General (DG) Hassan Mahmood Khandker recently stated that, A total of 633 persons were killed in encounters with its members while 750 RAB men were punished for their unlawful acts. Among the 750 punished RAB members, 350 were sacked while the rest 400 suffered imprisonment in different tenures. Also RAB intelligence personnel are only on duty to tackle the criminal activities.  [9]   However, on contrary, extrajudicial killing have been going on very rapidly of violating the highest court ruling order, the Constitution and the Universal Declaration by law enforcers. The term extrajudicial killing means execution without justice. This is a grave human rights violation. Its both a violation of Bangladeshs constitution and of the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  [10]  But these types of killings still occur frequently in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh has been violating the constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights day after day since 2002 (including operation clean heart). In 2004, the BNP-Jamaat government made a decision about extrajudicial killings and formed the RAB. From March 26, 2004 until January 31, 2009, around 1,600 people (including 58 58 killed peoples in operation clean heart of 2002) have been killed without justice. The government of Bangladesh has sided with the extrajudicial killings. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also said, in an indirect way, that extrajudicial killings will continue. She spoke clearly, upholding crossfire killings. What was said by our popular Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New York is very unfortunate for the rule of law, democracy, the constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the people of Bangladesh. According to the Bdnews24.com, Sheikh Hasina talked with journalists in New York on Sept. 27, 2009. Referring to crossfire killings at the time, she said, I do not believe in extrajudicial killings. But if anyone launches an armed attack (against a law enforcer), then they shouldnt be allowed to kill them like sitting ducks.  [11]   Bangladeshs elite Rapid Action Battalion continues to engage in extrajudicial killings despite Supreme Court directives to halt it. Although the court is handling the issue of extrajudicial killings, RAB does not seem to be bothered either about the judiciary or the countrys laws. The assertions of responsible people in the present government are shocking. Home minister Sahara Khatun recently said that, there was no crossfire. It seems, either directly or indirectly, the home minister and other ministers are defending the perpetrators of such crossfire killings. Finally we can say that, in Bangladesh has no rule of law. We want to say that the reports of so-called crossfire killings, encounter killings or gunfight killings that are made by the RAB and the police are totally false. We believe that terrorism should never be combated or controlled through state killings. It is the establishment of the rule of law that is essential to control terrorism. Conclusion Finally we can say that, numerous killings are being carried out extra-judicially; the perpetrators remain above the law; and the victims have no recourse to protection or redress under the law. This represents a violation of Article 31 of the Constitution, which reads: To enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.  [12]   However, beyond impunity, those responsible for such killings are being rewarded for their actions. Torture and the threat of extra-judicial killing are used by the police and the RAB to extract money from persons that they arrest. Furthermore, the RAB was even awarded the prized Independence Award to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on March 23, 2006, as part of Bangladeshs 35th Independence Day celebrations, for its activities. Therefore, it is revealed that this kind of activities by the RAB is clearly a false ideology to name the extrajudicial killing under the name of crossfire, is just only to eye wash the general public, and some day it may have negative effect on the society and country as a whole. So the govt. and the people of Bangladesh should raise its voice against it and it should be stopped soon.

My Hobby Essay

Vegetable gardening as my favorite hobby Deepa George WGU February 20, 2013 Vegetable gardening as my favorite hobby Hobby is an entertaining activity which provides pleasure and recreation. It is a way of escaping from the stress and the monotony of one’s daily round of duties. Therefore, hobby is essential for the proper enjoyment of life. My favorite hobby is vegetable gardening because it provides me sense of pride, peace, and relaxation, promote healthy life style and save money on groceries. You should start gardening as your hobby because it provides you relaxation, keeps you physically healthy, and save money on grocery bills. First of all, a vegetable garden is an easy and effective way to provide a sense of pride and relaxation. I am fortunate to have a spacious backyard for the gardening. I have vegetables and crops such as peas, lettuce, greens, cabbages, root crops, squash, beans, corn, melons, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, and herbs in my garden in different seasons. Research shows that gardening promotes mental health by relieving stress and promoting a sense of accomplishment. Spending some time in the garden ease stress, keep you limber and improve your mood. Vegetable gardening is a wonderful pastime the whole family can enjoy. Allowing children to be involved in the gardening help them to develop an understanding of nature, sense of responsibility, and pride. Kids are more likely to taste vegetables they grow themselves. My five year old son is proud about our vegetable garden. He helps us with watering the plants, caring for the crop and harvesting the produce. He was extremely reluctant to eat fruits and vegetables buying from the market, but now he does not want to miss anything coming from our garden. When your daughter Sara was in my house, she enjoyed peeking under leaves in search of ripe fruits and vegetables. Hence, I am sure that she will be so happy to have her own garden. Growing your own food, build a sense of pride and satisfaction. Watching a seed sprout in front of your eyes to become food on your plate is gratifying. The commitment for garden rewards you with a feeling that you have brought something to life. It is truly exciting to go to your backyard and get a juicy, ripened tomato for a salad. Now the weather is turning warm and favorable for planting. You should make a vegetable garden with your favorite vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and jalapeno peppers. The stores like Lowes, Home depot, and local seed stores have varieties of seeds with planting instructions. I will help you with picking out plants, preparing raised beds and containers, and fertilization of plants. I would like you to enjoy the sense of pride, accomplishment and relaxation by gardening which brings you close to nature. Secondly, planting vegetable gardening keeps you and your family healthy. It provides fresh fruits and vegetables right at your fingertips. Everybody is seriously concerned about the safety of the food available in the market. When you grow your own food carefully and organically, you do not have to worry about the contamination of the vegetables. When they grow in your backyard, you are not able to resist them, and their vitamin content will be at the highest level as you eat them straight from the garden. Thus, gardening is a simple and an easy way to promote good eating habits. Furthermore, gardening is a good outdoor exercise. Planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting require a lot of physical activity. Tending vegetable garden burns calories and uses muscles. Studies have shown that one can burn 200 to 500 calories per hour by working in the vegetable garden. The activities in the garden will give you sufficient physical exercise to keep you physically healthy and mentally alert. Finally, you will save money on groceries when you begin to stock your kitchen with fresh produce from backyard. It will help you to save money on gas you use to get to the store. To save money, you should plant smart and grow the food you like to eat. Make sure you grow a lot of vegetables that you use regularly. Since you like the salad, you should plant plenty of salad greens to save money. You can preserve the produce and enjoy the goodness of fruits and vegetables long after the harvest is over. There are four common ways to preserve foods: canning, freezing, drying, and pickling. Last year, I preserved beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot and sweet corn and used for the rest of the year. You can share the extra vegetables with your friends, or sell in the fresh vegetable market. Every year I donate extra vegetables to a food pantry, and it helped me to take the tax deduction for non-cash distributions. You can save the seeds from the best produces, and use for next year. Gardening is an investment that offers a good return. For example, I have spent two dollar for one packet of green bean seeds. Once I cover the cost of soil, fertilizers, and water, I got a return of around seventy five dollars. I suggest you to start gardening as your hobby that produces positive economic return. Conclusively, vegetable gardening provides relaxation by getting a person outside and exposing to natural air. Planning a garden and caring for the garden help the person to stay healthy and save money. For all these reasons, I encourage you to choose vegetable gardening as your hobby.

Assessment in Special Education: Philippines Essay

The Status of Assessment of Children with Special Needs in the Philippines I. Assessment Processess Involved in Assessment a. tests b. measurement c. evaluation II. Assessment of Children with Disabilities in America History of Assessment Purposes of Assessment in Education a. regular education b. special education Process of Educational Assessment III. Assessment of Children with Disabilities in the Philippines Policies and Guidelines of Special Education Process of Educational Assessment Trends and Issues in Assessment. The Status of Assessment of Children with Special Needs in the Philippines Assessment is an indispensable process in the educational system, especially in educating children with disabilities. It is a process of obtaining information for decisions about students, curriculum and programs, decisions and on educational the of policies. of Moreover, goals this involves psychological assessment of children with relevance to making appropriateness instructional at and objectives, assigning management counselling. This process involves the use of tests, measurement, and evaluation. The instruments for the systematic procedure are called tests. These are used for observing and describing one or more characteristic of children using a numerical scale or classification scheme. Paper-and-pencil tests, teacher-made tests, standardized tests are among the other instruments used. The scores earned in correctly answered items provide the teacher the quantitative and objective information as to how much a student has learned. The procedure for assigning number or score to a specified attribute or characteristics is called measurement. Through this, the order of people in the group being measured is maintained. This measurement provides the value judgement of the student’s score or performance. This process of evaluation serves as the basis for decisions about the course of action to be followed. This gives an objective picture of the status of the child which could be done through either formative or summative evaluation. Formative evaluative involves a progressive monitoring on the quality of learning a child is gaining. Whereas summative teaching strategies, appropriate classification, placement opportunities and guidance and evaluation is done after a period of time which determines the quality or worth of materials a student has gained. Assessment encompasses testing, measurement, and evaluation; it is broader than all the process. However, measurement, in some cases, may not be utilized due to lack of tools. This may lead to subjectivity. Thus, it would require a deep knowledge of the qualitative and quantitative attributes to arrive at a sound assessment. Assessment in special education dated way back the Medieval Times when people with non-purposive behaviour are considered mentally-ill and were placed in asylum. Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor, once worked with people with this distress. She clarified that many of the cases in the asylum do not possess medical problems but pedagogical problems. Thus, they will benefit from instructional intervention. This was followed by the works of Itard and Seguine who designed a training program to improve visual, auditory and tactile senses. Their objective was to refine the senses. However, their study did not go on but was continued by Samuel Howe and Edward Seguine who then started an institution for children with mental retardation. In 1838, Esquirol wrote a book on mental deficiency who described the disability in a varying continuum. He explained further that the use of language is a dependable criterion to determine the individual’s level of intellect. John Locke illustrated further the difference between an insane an idiot. The insane talks too much and uses words incoherently while the idiot, on the other hand, when he talks has limited language. But they came to a realization that there is a need for a tool to identify the problems of children who are not learning at the same rate as their peers. During the late 1800s, Alfred Binnet proposed to French Ministry of Public Instruction that there is a need for a further study of children who  are failing in school and must not be dismissed. So, the need for special instruction was identified. He, together with Theodore Simon developed a tool with 30 items with ascending order of difficulty during the early 1900s. It has a wide variety of function with emphasis on judgement, comprehension, and reasoning which are the components of intelligence. This was called Simon-Binnet Test. However, there are still glitches on the use of this tool because most items are verbal and scoring procedure is not available. The second version of the tool added more items and removed unsatisfactory items. Accordingly, test items are grouped according to age level. Scoring was also established by interpreting it through mental level. The third version was done in 1911. There were some minor revision and repositioning of items according to level of difficulty. The tool was brought to America and was studied further in Standford University by Lewis Therman. It was normed and standardized resulting to its name these days as StanfordBinnet Intelligence Test. However between1920-1950, the prominent tests used to assess children with disabilities are projective tests and personality tests. Unfortunately, it did not gain much fame because of its lack of objectivity. After a century, there was an increase in the use of standardized test on perception. This was influenced by Samuel Kirk’s definition of exceptional children. Intelligence tests during that time focused on perceptual-motor senses. Usually, these tests are accompanied by programs. However, it has not improved the performance of children with difficulty. In the 1970s, Behavioral Model was the trend. It emphasized on observation procedures. In this model, evaluation and value judgement became their basis for instruction. However, children with disabilities do not progress despite the use of standardized tests in assessing; thus, it must not be the sole tool to be used in assessment. There must be a balance between the use of formal and informal models. Accordingly, assessment tools must correspond to the assessment objective. Madeline Will, between the mid-1980 – early 1990s, brought up the idea that children in the regular classroom must not remain difficult but must receive a special instruction. She underscored that assessment is a shared responsibility of the general education teacher and the special education teacher. It must start with pre-referral assessment and pre-referral intervention. This is the core idea of today’s Regular Education Incentive (REI) in America. In the new millennium, functional-behavioural assessment became the support of REI. Among other purposes, this evaluates student’s behaviour within environmental context that can contribute to an intervention plan. A balance between formal and informal assessment procedure was observed. Generally, assessment helps teachers make decisions about the curriculum and make educational programs for the child. But assessment in special education is more focused on individual student. It aims to screen and identify the seriousness of the problem; identify and determine the current level of academic performance and educational need of the child in terms of academic area and strengths and weaknesses; determine eligibility in special programs; make decisions about placement in different programs taking into consideration the least restrictive environment (LRE);evaluate teaching program and strategies designed for the child; develop an individualized educational plan (IEP); and monitor and document student’s progress pertinent to the target goals. Assessment in America is guided by the principles present in PL 94-142 Education for all Handicapped. According to this public law, all children must be given free appropriate public education (FAPE) or the zero-reject principle; it stresses the avoidance of discrimination in the assessment procedure used; an IEP must be carefully planned containing important details; an educational setting must be least restrictive for the child to move; each child deserves fairness and accountability of professionals and parents who makes decisions on his assessment; parents would have to know the honest objective of the test. The process of educational assessment in America follows three stages: pre-referral, referral and IEP development and educational placement. Due to Madeline Will’s initiative, pre-referral stage has been a MUST in the assessment process in America. This process is inexpensive. This is divided into two sub-stages, general screening and problem identification. During the first sub-stage, the teacher initiates the data gathering on the learning problems the child encounters which makes the child significantly different compared to his peers. This entails the use of short tests (individual or group) which is broadly focused on all areas of development or on a specific subject area. From the data, the teacher will identify the child’s difficulty and determine what she will address. Here comes the pre-referral intervention plan of the teacher. Progress must be assessed after a certain period of time to determine whether the chid needs to continue the plan with some additions or refer the child to a professional. During the referral stage, a comprehensive assessment is planned through referral to the special education team (SPED team). The team will evaluate the intervention plan used and will make some revision to make assessment more formative. However, if a child do not progress in this stage, he/she will be then referred to the multidisciplinary/ transdisciplinary team who will conduct further study and prepare comprehensive and integrated assessment report reflecting important findings. The report will be translated in an IEP. The IEP serves as the framework in which the child will benefit. A special education teacher must implement this. Progress monitoring and evaluation must be done to give feedback to students and teachers. This must be carefully evaluated at the end of the year so that revisions will be made. Truly, the assessment procedure in America gave an impact to the Philippines’ special education system. In fact, the Philippine constitution and Magna Carta for Disabled Person of 1992 guided the formulation of policies and guidelines in special education in the Philippines. Article XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states, â€Å"The state shall promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. † Magna Carta likewise provides that the State shall ensure that disabled person are provided with adequate access to quality education and ample opportunities to develop their skills; take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all disabled person; and take into consideration the special requirements of disabled persons in the formulation of education policies and programs. As stated in Article 3: Identification, Screening, Assessment and Evaluation of Children, identification and assessment of every child shall be conducted as early as possible and shall be conducted by the school and the community utilizing appropriate assessment instruments. The team shall be composed of persons with working knowledge and understanding of special children such as parents, guardians, neighbours, friends, teachers, guidance counsellors, health workers, social workers and others. Aspects to be covered in the identification, screening, assessment and education of children shall cover the following aspects: physical (height, weight, physical deformities, gross and fine motor coordination, hearing, visual acuity, oral hygiene and dental development), psycho-social (family history, personality, bahavior) and educational (learning disabilities, language and speech, medical). As mentioned, appropriate instruments shall be developed or adopted in order to identify handicapping condition as  early as possible; it must be on-going; and the synthesis of identification shall be the basis for the appropriate educational placement for the child with special needs. In a paper presented to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2010, it highlighted three (3) phases of assessment in the Philippines: sensing the special need, assessment, intervention. In the first phase, the people involved are the parents, family, siblings, caregiver, teachers, family doctor, the pediatrician and the child. It takes into consideration the impressions, comparisons, reports and complaints, initial assessment and school performance of the child. In the second phase, the diagnosis of the difficulty is given by a medical specialist. Through which, special needs of the child are identified. The child will be then referred to a multidisciplinary team where they consolidate their diagnosis. The multidisciplinary team may include developmental paediatrician, occupational therapist, speech therapist, physical therapist, reading specialist, educational therapist and music therapist. Intervention of the difficulty start with the formulation of the Individualized Intervention Program (IIP) which is carefully planned by the teacher from the diagnosis under the guidance of case consultants, area specialists, school administrator, psychologist and the parents. The third phase is a continuous process of implementing, monitoring, and re-formulating IIP until such time when the child is able to manage himself and achieve the objectives formulated. However, the country is still at its process in polishing these ideals to conform with the emerging needs of children with special needs. Maria Melisa Rossana C. Sta. Ana, in her article written in 2006 entitled â€Å"Education of Children with Multiple Disabilities in the Philippines,† highlighted that though the school curriculum is established, there are still major concerns for the preparation of educational programs and support for children with multiple disability like the lack of available culture-based assessment tools in evaluating students with multiple disabilities. On another note, she points out that many Filipino parents of children with disability cannot see the importance of sending their child to school due to poverty and negative stereotypes. This gave light to a number of children with disabilities in the Philippines who do not receive proper education support that they need. On another light, there are private schools and foundations catering to children with special needs. One of which is Cupertino Center for Special Education. Their approach to assessment is done through a clinical team approach, special education teachers, occupation and speech therapists and psychologists. Another school which accepts children with special needs is O. B. Montessori Center Inc. (OBMCI). Children with special needs are admitted to OBMCI thru its guidance program where children are identified accordingly (Sta, Ana, 2010). The school gives importance on the professional diagnostic assessment which was made prior to enrolment of assessment to identify the child’s sensory potential, identify the individual needs and development of the individual educational program. This will help determine the child’s strength and limitation which will eventually influence his/her educational program. Filipino parents have very little choice with regard to the education of their special children in the Philippines, especially families in the marginal sector. However, through proper implementation of policies and endeavours in the field of special education, the special education system in the country will progress and each child with disability will receive appropriate education. References: Sta. Ana, M. (2010). Education of children with multiple disabilities in the Philippines. Retrieved February 8,2013 from http://staana. blogspot. com/multipledisabilities Inciong, T. (2005). The development of welfare and education for children with mental retardation towards inclusion: The Philippine experience. Paper Presentation. Retrieved February 8, 2013 from www. deped. gov. ph/regioniva/paper/inciongt Learn more about special education. (2010). PowerPoint Presentation. Retrieved February 8, 2013 from www. slideshare. net/sped/learmoreaboutspedsept19-100920211910phpqapp1 Madrid, M. (2012). A PowerPoint Presentation: Policies and guidelines of special education in the Philippines. Retrieved February 8, 2013 from www. slideshare. net/m_apostol_madrid_s/policies-120427023552phpapp1.

Freedom Of Speech A Theoretic Approach - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 17 Words: 5059 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/05/13 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Freedom of Speech Essay Did you like this example? Freedom of Speech: A Theoretic Approach INTRODUCTION The Constitution â€Å"demands that content-based restrictions on speech be presumed invalid and that the Government bear the burden of showing their constitutionality.†[footnoteRef:1] That is to say, anything recognizable as a conception of freedom of expression must require that government, at least in its capacity as regulator, maintain a position of neutrality regarding messages. However, there are content-based restrictions on speech that have been allowed but only in a few instances such as incitement, obscenity, defamation, speech important to establish criminal conduct, fighting words, child pornography, fraud, true threats, and speech creating a serious and imminent threat the government has the power to prevent. As hate speech and rumors proliferate social media, many countries have attempted to implement â€Å"fake news† laws. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Freedom Of Speech: A Theoretic Approach" essay for you Create order Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar have all seen an increase in â€Å"fake news† and have attempted to criminalize anyone who delivers â€Å"fake news† including Brazil, Germany, France, and Kenya. Moreover, according to the decision in U.S. v. Alvarez, the United States has attempted and failed to criminalize â€Å"fake news.† [1: Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union, 542 U.S. 656, 660, 124 S.Ct. 2783, 159 L.Ed.2d 690] Malaysia passed a law that would punish citizens on social media or those who are working at a digital publication for spreading fake news with a $123,000 dollar fine along with a possible prison sentence of up to six years. In France, the parliament has passed a law that targets fake news. The new law will impose a quick-response judicial review of potentially â€Å"manipulative† information shared during electoral periods. The new law will allow election candidates to sue for the removal of contested news reports during election periods, as well as forcing platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to disclose the source of funding for sponsored content.[footnoteRef:2] Germany introduced a plan that fined social media platforms if they did not remove posts that included hate speech. However, in the Philippines, the regulators stated that banning fake news in their country would be outright unconstitutional. The movement to ban fakes news is trending and nations like the United States are trying to come up with a solution that does not abridge the First Amendment. One way to curb fake news without abridging the First Amendment is allowing or encouraging companies or the market to handle it. For instance, YouTube is making a $25 million dollar investment to â€Å"improve its news features, joining Facebook, Apple, and parent company Google in campaigns to curb fake news†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [footnoteRef:3] Additionally, companies like RedPen are reducing the problem by using a combination of innovative technologies, including AI, natural language processing and sentiment analysis, to for multiple angles of a trending story in a single user interface. This information is great for companies; but what can the government do? Unlike private companies, the government is in a tough predicament due to the constraints of the First Amendment. The Government cannot censor speech while private companies can. To fully understand the concept of fake news, we have to look further into the past pre-trump era. [2: YOUNG, ZACHARY French Parliament passes law against ‘fake news’ 7/4/18, 12:44 PM CET Updated 7/4/18, 1:15 PM CET] [3: Olenski, Steve. â€Å"5 Ways Brands Can Combat Fake News† https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2018/07/12/5-ways-brands-can-combat-fake-news/#5e6f771448f6 ] Fake news is not a new concept and has been around for quite some time. Even in 1938, a radio broadcast adaptation of H. G.Well’s drama The War of the Worlds frightened an estimated one million residents.[footnoteRef:4] The residents believed what they heard on the radio station was, in fact, happening since the radio was the main source of media in the 1930s. Currently, now that online platforms, particularly social media, are becoming the main sources of news for a growing number of individuals, misinformation seems to have found a new channel.[footnoteRef:5] Fake news is the intentional and verifiably false information that could mislead readers.[footnoteRef:6] Social media has changed news distribution and has challenged traditional beliefs of how news should look. Quick snippets of information from innumerable sources delivered every second of the day would cause a lot of confusion. [4: Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Zheng Wei Lim Richard Ling 2018] [5: Tandoc 2018] [6: Id.] The news is supposed to be based on truth, but who decides what the truth is? Statements are true if they correspond to the facts in the world. Truth is not absolute but maybe its relative to the culture, nation, ethnic backgrounds, and schools of thought. For example, science is a way to make the truth more absolute. There are methodologies, case studies, and empirical research that make of the paradigm of science. However, even with the scientific methods, we still find disagreement. The truth tends to be relative to a particular frame or reference. In order to determine what news is considered fake, we must look at what is the nature of â€Å"real news.† Traditionally, the news was expressed by journalists who adheres to a code of professionalism. A journalist must be objective and accurate. Above all, provide citizens with accurate and truthful information so they can be free and self-governing. With that responsibility, there comes liability. A journalist must stray away from providing misinformation and never provide disinformation. While misinformation refers to â€Å"the inadvertent sharing of false misinformation,† disinformation refers to â€Å"the deliberate creation and sharing of information known to be false.†[footnoteRef:7] Traditional news forums have printed misinformation plenty of times. Trump credits himself as being the creator of the term but the term has been around for a while. It was used heavily in campaigns during the 90s. [7: Wardle 2017 para. 1.] Since 2016 the Supreme Court has made references to how ambiguous and vague the phrase is. For instance, in Cohen v. California, the statement â€Å"fuck-the-draft† tapped directly into the vagueness issues and definitional difficulties afflicting the statutory phrase â€Å"offensive conduct† and whether, in turn, â€Å"fuck† fell within that definition.[footnoteRef:8] At the most fundamental level, fake news is a speech based phenomenon[footnoteRef:9]. It typically features words and may involve images. The First Amendment, thus, is relevant to the extent that restricting fake news necessitates government action targeting its producers and disseminators. The possibility of such government regulation is much more than just a hypothetical. California attempted to pass a bill that made it illegal to knowingly and willingly make, publish, or circulate on an Internet Website, or cause to be made, published, or circulated in any writing posted on a website, a false or deceptive statement designed to influence the vote on either a voter or candidate for office.[footnoteRef:10] Eventually, the bill was struck down. The major barrier, of course, is that political speech lies within the heart of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court and lawmakers must first understand what â€Å"fake news† actually means before any useful law can be passed. First, statements of opinion are not considered fake news. One possibility is that fake news consists of content that conveys the impression of being a real news article in print or, more appropriately, on the Internet.[footnoteRef:11] [8: Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 25 (1971).] [9: Calvert, Clay. First Amendment Law review. Vol 16. Pg. 156] [10: Id. ] [11: Id. at 161] For the purposes of this paper, the term fake news will be an intentional sharing of false information that gives the impression of being a real news article in print or on the Internet. This paper will determine whether fake news should be protected by the First Amendment, explore recent court decisions including Alvarez, apply Free Speech Theory and determine which theory or theories are best equipped to address the implications of the fake news, particularly, the news that was spread before the 2016 Presidential election. ANALYSIS A. United States v. Alvarez In Alvarez, Justice Kennedy stated Content-based restrictions on speech are subject to strict scrutiny and are almost always invalid, except in rare and extreme circumstances. While low categories of speech, such as defamation and true threats, present a serious and imminent threat, false statements alone do not present such a threat. Congress drafted the Stolen Valor Act too broadly, attempting to limit speech that could cause no harm.[footnoteRef:12] This principle regarding causation of harm, drawn from Justice Anthony Kennedy’s plurality opinion in United States v.Alvarez, becomes most relevant if the government attempts to regulate fake news.[footnoteRef:13] The Alvarez rule that proof of causation of harm must be demonstrated to uphold a content-based restriction on speech under strict scrutiny springs from the Court’s 2011 decision in the violent video game case of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. The majority concluded that punishment for false stat ements are improper and unconstitutional. Hence, Justice Breyer agreed with the overall decision but not in the analysis. Justice Breyer stated that instead of applying strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny is warranted. Even with applying intermediate scrutiny, punishment for false statements, the Stolen Valor Act, in this instance would be unconstitutional because it violates intermediate scrutiny and it applies to situations that are unlikely to cause harm.[footnoteRef:14] However, the dissent essentially stated that the Stolen Valor Act could not have been drafted any narrower, while still preventing the substantial harm caused by false statements concerning military decoration.[footnoteRef:15] [12: United States v. Alvarez, 567 U.S. 709 (2012).] [13: Id. at 725.] [14: Id.] [15: Id.] The best argument made in the opinion is the concurrence by Justice Breyer and Kagan. Intermediate scrutiny or the proportionality analysis should be used because the statute works First Amendment harm, while the Government can achieve its legitimate objectives in less restrictive ways. This approach is necessary if the First Amendment is to offer proper protection in the many instances in which a â€Å"statute adversely affects constitutionally protected interests but warrants neither near-automatic condemnation (as â€Å"strict scrutiny† implies) nor near-automatic approval (as is implicit in â€Å"rational basis† review).†[footnoteRef:16] However, the dissent points out that â€Å"there are broad areas in which any attempt by the state to penalize purportedly false speech would present a grave and unacceptable danger of suppressing truthful speech.†[footnoteRef:17] In fact, the court has not extended First Amendment protection on several occasions. The dissent points out several examples such as defamation of a public official. The dissent further leans on New York v. Sullivan stating â€Å"[e]ven a false statement may be deemed to make a valuable contribution to public debate, since it brings about ‘the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.†[footnoteRef:18] The dissent believes the plurality fears that we will see laws making it a crime to lie about civilian awards such as college degrees or certificates of achievement in the arts and sports.[footnoteRef:19] The dissent believes that the Stolen Valor Act is a narrowly tailored law to address an important issue. Congress was entitled to conclude that falsely claiming to have won the Medal of Honor is qualitatively different from even the most prestigious civilian awards and that the misappropriation of that honor warrants crimina l sanction.[footnoteRef:20] Although the dissent makes a good argument, the plurality made the best argument that I align myself with. False statements should not be regulated by the government unless it essential the elements of a crime such as Fraud. [16: U.S. v. Alvarez at 731] [17: Id. at 751] [18: J. Mill, On Liberty at 15] [19: U.S. v. Alvarez at 753] [20: Id. at 754 ] The plurality and concurrence fear that the government will misuse and overreach if the government is allowed to regulate. Because the statute, as drafted, applies even in a family, social, or other private contexts where lies are unlikely to cause harm, it creates too significant a burden on protected speech.[footnoteRef:21] The government could achieve its goals in a less burdensome way. The best solution to restrictions of speech, in this case, is intermediate scrutiny. [21: Id.] B. REGULATION Speech regulation is adopting policies and taking actions designed to reduce the prevalence of one or more classes of speech; therefore, it is an effort to reduce the amount of particular speech. Even mature democracies struggle with the issue of fake news. On January 1, 2018, Germany announced that it would begin to enforce a law, known as NetzDG, requiring social media sites to remove hate speech and fake news within 24 hours or face fines of up to 50 million Euros.[footnoteRef:22] The European Commission’s High Level Group on fake news and online disinformation take a 5 pillar approach to the fake news concept. In March 2018, the High Level Group issued a report concluding that although disinformation may not necessarily be illegal, it nevertheless is harmful to democratic values. This approach reminds me of the Harm Principle and although apparently avoiding â€Å"any form of censorship, either public or private,† it advocates greater self-regulation in the short te rm, with a long-range goal of developing a Code of Practices to encourage transparency, media literacy, diversity, the development of tools to â€Å"tackle† disinformation, and further research to monitor and assess the sources and impact of fake news.[footnoteRef:23] On the other hand, also in March, the Dutch Parliament voted to retract EUvsDisinfo.eu, a European Union website created by the East Stratcom Task Force in 2015 to report disinformation and fake news allegedly spread by Russian actors. Its Dutch opponents characterize it as a state publication that â€Å"passes judgments whether a publication in the free media contains the correct views or not. If your publication ends up in its database, you’re officially labeled by the EU as a publisher or disinformation and fake news.†[footnoteRef:24] [22: European Commission, â€Å"A multi-dimensional approach to disinformation.† ] [23: Id.] [24: Id. at 18.] These examples illustrate how problematic it can be when governmental entities become arbiters of what is true and what is fake. As the Dutch critics argued, governments should be loath to interfere in freedom of the press because â€Å"it makes it impossible for the truth to emerge in the public debate.†[footnoteRef:25] The marketplace of ideas must have been an underlying reason in the Dutch critic’s argument. It was definitely at the core of the pivotal 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision, New York Times v. Sullivan. [25: Id. at 22] The Sullivan case arose during the civil rights movement, involving a Montgomery, Alabama, public safety commissioner named L.B. Sullivan, who sued the New York Times after it published a fundraising advertorial that described law enforcement actions designed to discourage protests by activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers. Sullivan claimed that the ad, which made several factually inaccurate allegations about the Montgomery police, had defamed him personally, even though he was not identified by name or title. In other words, Sullivan claimed the publication was fake news. He sought and won $500,000 in damages, without being required under Alabama law to prove that his reputation was actually harmed. But in a decision by Justice William Brennan, the high court reversed, concluding that under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, public officials like Sullivan could prevail in a libel suit only if they were also able to show not only falsity but actual malice on the part of the publisher. In other words, a publisher had knowledge that the statement was false, or proof that the publisher acted with reckless disregard for the truth. A showing of hatred or ill will, known as common law malice, is not sufficient to meet that test. According to Justice Brennan, because some factual errors are inevitable even in the most careful news reporting, this protection is essential to avoid media self-censorship, to promote vigorous reporting on government and public officials, and to preserve our â€Å"profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open.† In subsequent years, the First Amendment protection expanded to include lawsuits by public figures as well as government officials. Alleging falsity was not enough. No doubt this situation is what prompted Donald Trump, first as a candidate and then as president, to float the idea that the law should be changed. Regulation should increase due to the swelling fabrication of news that is highly contentious. When there is social tension, especially if there are serious political, religious, racial or cultural differences, then people will be more vulnerable to fabricated news.[footnoteRef:26] The items can also be shared on social media and thus further gain legitimacy since the individual is receiving them from people they trust.[footnoteRef:27] This is a problem because most young and middle age, and a growing number of past generations rely heavily on social media for their news source.[footnoteRef:28] [26: Kirtley, Jane â€Å"Getting to the Truth: Fake News, Libel Laws, and â€Å"Enemies of the American People† American Bar Association] [27: Id.] [28: Head, Alison. â€Å"How Students Engage With News.† https://www.projectinfolit.org/news_study.html] C. Freedom of Expression and Free Speech Theory A marketplace of ideas approach provides the community with the opportunity to hear all ideas whether good or bad. The marketplace of ideas is imperfect but essential to facilitate the search for truth. This approach, because of the immense volume of ideas, allows for good ideas to emerge. The theory is that truth beats error in the competition of ideas. This concept and process is beneficial in discovering the best truth because the individual is exposed to a variety of paradigms and ideologies which help build a better, more tolerant, community. This approach does not silence the expression of opinion or ideas whether good or bad. Furthermore, under the Justice Holmes approach to the marketplace of ideas, the approach does not consider whether government interference is desired in order to prevent harm. It does state, however, that government interference should be minimal so that the truth would not be tainted in the marketplace. Notwithstanding where the government can actively e ngage in speech to further governmental ideas, you can infer that this approach is at the foundation of the Alvarez opinion. Under this approach, false statements are inevitable if there is to be an open and vigorous expression of views in public and private conversation, an expression the First Amendment seeks to guarantee.[footnoteRef:29] The marketplace of ideas is a great theory, however, this theory is based on an important assumption. [29: United States v. Alvarez, 567 U.S. 709, 718 (2012)] If there is fake news, there must be truth out there somewhere. If we accept that there is fake news then the assumption is that everyone is in search for the truth or best truth. This theme has been endorsed by famous writers of many eras. John Milton stated â€Å"Let Truth and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter.†[footnoteRef:30] And Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his famous dissenting opinion stated â€Å"[W]hen men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas – that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.†[footnoteRef:31] Since 2016, it seems clear that marketplace competition forces, standing alone, will not drive fake news from the field of expression.[footnoteRef :32] For some people, the truth may be outweighed or overpowered when grappling, more like passively accepting, fake news. [30: Milton 1644] [31: Abrams v. United States 1919, 630] [32: Calvert, Clay. First Amendment Law review. Vol 16.] The marketplace of ideas approach focuses on speech maximization which increases the amount of speech in particular classes through forums, media, speech tokens and types. This specific method is offered to combat fake news or false information. However, in a marketplace full of bad ideas, flooding the market with good ones does not seem to solve the problem. The marketplace could be chaotically flooded with ideas making it hard to discern and extract the good ideas from the bad. This will further exacerbate the problem and lead to misinformation being distributed making it difficult for individuals to extract the best truth. Additionally, the marketplace of ideas will become the marketplace of opinions or fake news. For instance, social media outlets such as Facebook makes it extremely difficult for citizens to discern the truth. I know the marketplace of ideas is not the marketplace of facts, but I believe the pioneers of the theory thought it should be a place of competing ideological convictions and fidelity to the true idea. Currently, there is a shift towards a preference for online news resources. In a study conducted by Alison Head found that the high school and college population is no longer on Facebook. The study indicated that high school and college students get their news from real-life discussions with peers (93%) and not just from social media (89%).[footnoteRef:33] Professors were considered a significant news source as well (70%), but librarians were not as effective as a source of news (7%).[footnoteRef:34] The most common source of news is memes, instagram, and snapchat. Head states that the tech giant Facebook is dying. Seeing this change, you would think that citizens would be more aware of fake news. People who understand fake news as a reality should rightfully be more skeptical about the veracity of what they read rather than accepting it blindly or at face value.[footnoteRef:35] If a consumer knows that fake news exists, it should encourage the consumer to be a more attentive, active, and always challenging the status quo. Some would even look at fake news circulating the market as a benefit because unfortunately, fake news will always circulate the marketplace, we just have to educate ourselves with discernment. [33: Head, Alison. â€Å"How Students Engage With News.† https://www.projectinfolit.org/news_study.html ] [34: Id.] [ 35: Calvert, Clay. First Amendment Law review. Vol 16.] Today, no matter whether the information is true, marketing is most important. Even when the idea itself is fake, as long as the party distributing the false information claims that the opposing idea is â€Å"fake news† they have an upper hand due to market trends. For example, a republican claiming that a democrat is conveying fake news. Maybe we should focus on real news and, specifically, ways to make it more appealing to the massive number of Americans who bypass reading traditional daily newspapers and watching local television newscasts produced by reputable organizations.[footnoteRef:36] Therefore, the marketplace of ideas approach alone may not be the best solution to solving fake news. There is no doubt that tackling fake news is a muti-faceted approach. We need news literacy. We need to educate ourselves on how to vet disreputable reputable sources, and how to properly research. However, here, we will focus on the theory or theories that will help weed out fake news without abridging the First Amendment. [36: Benton, Joshua Get Serious About Getting Rid of Fake News, NIEMAN REPS., Fall 2016, at 38, 39.] The regulation of fake news might even be contradictory to the marketplace principle. However, the Harm principle might play a major role in regulating fake news. Under the Harm principle fake news would be okay so long as it does not cause anyone harm. Moreover, the only purpose that power can be exercised over any member of the civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. This principle is grounded in Utilitarianism. Under the Harm Principle, individuals are free to drink, smoke, or use drugs even though this harm is self-inflicted. However, the moment that self-infliction begins to hurt others, such as drinking and driving, it must be stopped. More specifically, the only time government can interfere or suppress an individual’s complete liberty is to prevent harm to others. For example, the pizzagate scandal. a man carrying an assault rifle walked into a pizza restaurant in Washington, DC. He was intent on investigating on his own whether the restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, was the headquarters of an underground child sex ring allegedly run by the presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her former campaign manager, John Podesta.[footnoteRef:37] The man was motivated by stories disseminated through right wing social media outlets. He entered the restaurant and fired several shots in the ceiling. This would be fake news that has caused harm. Fortunately, no one was injured by the gunshot but there was a definite probability of it happening. [37: Lopez, German. â€Å"Pizzagate, the fake news conspiracy theory that led a gunman to DC’s Comet Ping Pong, explained† Dec. 2016.] John Stuart Mill’s harm principle suggests that â€Å"the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.†[footnoteRef:38] As so eloquently summarized by Professor Frederick Schauer, this means â€Å"that society may proceed only against genuine harms and not against other forms of individual or social discomfort.†[footnoteRef:39] What then, in reference to Millian theology, is the â€Å"harm to others†[footnoteRef:40] caused by fake news? [38: Mill, John S. On Liberty 80 (David Bromwich George Kateb eds., Yale Univ. Press 2003).] [39: Schauer, Frederick On the Relation Between Chapters One and Two of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, 39 CAP. U. L. REV. 571, 574 (2011).] [40: Mill, On Liberty, note 33 pg. 80] Identifying the harm or harms that we fear fake news produces is a condition precedent or any effective corrective action, be it through legal or private channels. One important step that lawmakers seeking to regulate any speech-based phenomenon must take is to â€Å"identify, with precision and specificity, the actual problem that the speech caught in the legislative crosshairs allegedly causes.†[footnoteRef:41] In other words, when it comes to fake news, one must â€Å"pinpoint the precise harm, not just some generalized, indistinct worry.†[footnoteRef:42] Mill’s underlying argument that freedom of speech allows poor ideas to be discussed, criticized, and defeated.[footnoteRef:43] But if that were true, why are having such a difficult time discerning the truth from fake news? In short, news is no longer found on traditional forums and access to resources has increased dramatically. [41: Calvert, Clay. First Amendment Law review. Vol 16.] [42: Id. at 256] [43: M ills, J. On Liberty, Chapter 4] The Marketplace of ideas approach is not so much concerned with harm, as it understands that not everyone will be in the majority. Which is why merging this idea with the Harm Principle seems proper. The marketplace of ideas is concerned with the truth. Truth causing harm is okay as long as the truth benefits the majority. Likewise, under the Harm Principle, if understood liberally, – i.e., taking into consideration that the principle of utility is its foundation, – harm is okay so long as it brings the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people.[footnoteRef:44] It is the combination of the Marketplace approach and Mill’s Harm principle that regulation is likely to succeed. Combining these concepts almost looks a bit like an intermediate scrutiny approach the concurrence discussed in Alvarez. However, there is another method that may help in regulating fake news and it concerns private entities such Facebook. [44: Nahra, Cinara. (2014). The har m principle and the greatest happiness principle: the missing link. Kriterion: Revista de Filosofia, 55(129), 99-110.] Most people today are acquiring their news from a source not deemed a forum or media corporation or outlet. Because of this, fake news has increased exponentially. Companies like FB are in a peculiar situation. Although they are indeed private companies; they are so massive that most people use its platform to engage in speech-related activities. One idea offered by Joshua Benton is that Facebook could hire editors to manage what shows up in its trending section, one of the major ways misinformation gets spread and a team of journalists and â€Å"charge them with separating at least the worst of the fake news from the stream.†[footnoteRef:45] A lot of this can be easily done with Facebook’s algorithm. Matter of fact, the outrageously fake news could be weighted a certain way in the algorithm. Facebook does have regulations and safeguards in place in reference to the freedom of expression. Facebook policies, although not all of them are known, have limitations on an individual’s freedom of expression. This all typically depends on the social movement and newsworthy content at the time. Facebook also states that it will remove content that attacks gender, age, sex, and race. Facebook has also decided to take down false information or fake news that is intended to immediately incite violence and physical harm. This is all dependent upon a user reporting the issue and the context of the issue. However, there are some issues with this. There is a possibility that by allowing social media companies to help regulate the market, you could be infringing upon the companies rights. Moreover, it may be difficult to prevent these companies from violating the First Amendment rights of individuals who wish to speak on the Internet. A possible solution would be to categorize companies like Facebook as a designated forum then the government will have more room for regulation. [ 45: Benton, Joshua. Get Serious About Getting Rid of Fake News, NIEMAN REPS., Fall 2016.] APPLICATION Although the public forum doctrine playing role, it does not solve the fake news issue. The best approach would be a combination of the marketplace of ideas approach, Harm Principle and Intermediate Scrutiny must be at the heart of restricting fake news. What does this mean? The approach I offer is one of a balancing test. Balancing the marketplace of ideas and the harm. Moreover, if the government is to intrude in this area in any way there must be some form of intermediate scrutiny. If Congress decides to put a statute in place, it must be narrowly tailored to achieve a legitimate governmental interest. If there is a less restrictive way than the statute proposes, then the statute is unconstitutional. I do not believe in punishing companies in order to achieve this goal unlike Germany. I believe hate speech is a necessary evil as long as it avoids becoming a true threat. However, we must encourage thoughtful forms of expression. One way to do so, similar to utility companies and their Energy Efficient programs in various states, is to offer an incentive. One incentive may be a capped tax break for the percentage of investment. However, unlike the Energy Efficiency programs there will not be any lost net revenues recovered because the amount of information trafficked through social media sites are innumerable. The government should first offer the incentive and if no one participates in the program the next step would be to construct a statute. On the other hand, I believe companies will be eager to participate because