America rests on a big idea. Freedom of speech isn’t something the government gives to us. It’s something “inalienable” to being human. Free speech for America’s creators wasn’t a “nice to have.” It wasn’t just an enabling condition of democracy. It was prior to and outside of government, in their view.
America’s founders felt so strongly about this that many of them wouldn’t sign on to the Constitution until they had the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law,” it reads, “abridging the freedom of speech.”
Of course, many rightly point out that the Supreme Court has allowed some exceptions. You cannot deliberately lie about someone to hurt them, nor lie to someone to take their money. You cannot threaten to kill or harm someone. And you cannot use your speech to incite a mob to kill someone.
But anyone with a cursory understanding of the Supreme Court’s rulings on the First Amendment knows that it has upheld a very high free speech standard. No nation protects free speech more than the U.S.
The Supreme Court has upheld the right of individuals to lie, even if those lies hurt the feelings of other people. In the cases of fraud and defamation, it has required plaintiffs to demonstrate intent to lie, deceive, and/or harm. And it has required that the incitement to violence be immediate, not distant, e.g., “Kill those people standing right there” not “Death to those people.”
Until now, no political party in the world has defended freedom of speech more than the Democrats. They are the party of the ACLU. The party that defended flag burning. The party that defended the right of neo-Nazis to march through Skokie, Illinois.
Not anymore. Now, the Democrats are demanding censorship.
