What is the significance of the First Amendment with speech and press?

A core American value is that the government should not be allowed to impede or restrict free expression, which extends to the mass media. The United States Constitution was drafted with the intentions of protecting the peoples individual rights which encompasses their rights to freely express opinions and oppositions in the media. The First Amendment states that the “Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press” (Vivian 429). For media people the clause in the First Amendment which states that government can not infringe on speech or of the press has been known as the free expression provision. This provision is ideal in a democratic society because it guarantees the people the right to complain about the government and demand that the wrongs of the institution be righted. Although the amendment states there shall be no government regulation, Congress has passed laws to limit free expression. The significance of the First Amendment is that although freedom of speech and of the press is protected, there are limitations. These limitations include the Alien and Sedation acts of 1798, Incitement Standard, Fighting Words Doctrine, TPM Standard, libel, indecency, Communications Decency Act, and the Patriot Act. All of these examples are ways in which the government has constrained the publics fundamental right to free expression in both speech and press. Despite these limitations, the First Amendment is significant because it allows for the free flow or ideas and expression which contributes to a democratic society in countless ways.