What is the value of silence?

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Code Date What is the Value of Silence? Introduction Over the years, there has been a discussion regarding free speech. Even though this topic has been discussed for years, the era of social media has made free speech and the power of silence one of the most contentious topics. Most people cite the First Amendment when discussing free speech because it highlights that people have the right to express themselves without fearing that the government will interfere with them. Even though the First Amendment protects people's rights to express their views, it still safeguards the right to remain silent to some degree. The 2023 controversy regarding TikTok’s ban showed the tension regarding these rights. The free speech advocates who supported the platform to continue operating highlighted that the government had no right to limit expression. Nevertheless, people have also associated silence with the antithesis of free speech, where they acknowledge that it also has its power and implications. In Dark Magic, Martin Rowson argues that taboos and unspoken create a mystique that offers people strength. In "Don't Even Think about It," Michael Ventura states that silence can be an oppressive instrument restricting people's freedom. This essay analyzes the value of silence to determine its worth by investigating how it helps preserve social order, reinforce power structures, and enforce social restrictions while promoting individual contemplation. Silence is used as a Tool for Maintaining Order. Silence has been mainly used to maintain social and political order. Rowson demonstrates in The Dark Magic that taboos operate as "deep magic," which enables people to oppose their peril. According to him, societies understand silence as a tool to maintain stability by stopping speech that questions institutional norms. This argument is supported by the TikTok ban dispute, which exposed control motives through the choice of allowable voices on the platform. The primary purpose serves as the government's primary defense for Censorship, although they often use alternative issues and present silence as protection instead of suppression. In this scenario, silence is used as a regulatory force to prevent potential chaos by using the notion that suppression of some discussion helps to maintain societal cohesion. However, although these restrictions could help maintain order, they could limit progress by preventing critical conversations about change and limiting societal evolution and innovation. Silence and Power Dynamics In most instances, silence is not used to represent the absence of speech but a strategic tool that the people in po...