How Free Is Free Speech?
How Free Is Free Speech?
The article discusses the escalating "speech war" in the United States, examining how free speech is being interpreted and challenged, particularly by the Trump administration. It critiques the hypocrisy prevalent in the free speech debate and reviews two books: Christopher L. Eisgruber’s “Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right” and Fara Dabhoiwala’s “What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea.” The piece explores the complexities of applying free speech norms in educational and professional settings, the historical evolution of free speech concepts, and expresses concern for the future of established legal precedents like New York Times v. Sullivan amidst contemporary political pressures.
Note
a valuable reminder about the necessary limits of free speech and how hypocrites easily weaponize the false ideal of "free speech" even as they seek to limit it themselves.
it's a complicated "right". it is worthy of debate. it is worth having spaces where it can be explored and spaces where it is constrained. it is worth having some boundaries.
i for one would like to see double speak (by those in power) to be considered a harmful form of speech.
Published
Summary
Image
