What does the Church teach about “free speech” on social media?

The concept of free speech on social media has been a hot topic in recent years, with many Catholics advocating strongly both for it and for various limitations.

The Catholic Church has written about freedom of speech in various documents, highlighting its benefits and challenges.

Gaudium et spes explains that, "The present keener sense of human dignity has given rise in many parts of the world to attempts to bring about a politico-juridical order which will give better protection to the rights of the person in public life. These include the right freely to meet and form associations, the right to express one's own opinion and to profess one's religion both publicly and privately."

The Church recognizes that everyone should be given the chance to express their opinion. This is good and praiseworthy, but at the same time needs to be within the confines of the truth.

Everyone should be able to express their public opinion, but it does need to be within the context of moral truth.

The main problem with this guideline is that many of those in power are not formed by Christian truth and will inevitably let their own beliefs form their decisions.

Furthermore, the Church has always encouraged the use of media, but not when it starts to degrade society.

The document, Inter mirifica, explains this dynamic of freedom.

When a media platform starts to harm society, the Church would recommend that it be regulated and under strict watch. This has only become more difficult to accomplish in recent years with the internet and the global reach of social media. Personal responsibility becomes even more important in these circumstances.

While the Church gives us sound guidelines, there is no clear vision forward for how to implement them in a fallen world, and we need to be aware of the many ways that social media can cause harm, especially to the young.