Why do so many people think freedom of speech means saying whatever you want in any context?

[Nevilledog]

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Elizabeth Spiers
@espiers
·
Oct 29, 2020
Why do so many people think freedom of speech means saying whatever you want in any context? Is this a failure of education, or that the phrase itself is somehow misleading?

Elizabeth Spiers
@espiers
Speech is restrained all the time in private and personal contexts. If you call your boss an asshole, you're probably getting fired, even though you're entitled to that opinion. Speech is protected in the public context; the government cannot restrain your speech.
12:17 PM · Oct 29, 2020

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Failure of education. . . . nt

[Claustrum]

2. Just like they think second amendment means they can have guns without ANY restrictions or

control.

[kurtcagle]

3. It's actually a very common misconception

I'm a journalist and an editor, and have talked about first amendment freedoms at a number of conferences over the years. I don't think the misconception is an educational failure - most civics classes do in fact speak somewhat to the Bill of Rights and its implications. Rather, the point itself is very subtle, and not well reinforced. In both England and Colonial America, you could in fact be imprisoned for speaking up against the king or a governor. Ben Franklin became a publisher at the age of 16 when his brother James, publisher of the first newspaper in Boston, was arrested by the Colonial Governor on charges of libel; James told his brother to keep the paper going. This incident was likely one of many that led Franklin to push for both Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press when Madison was working on the Bill of Rights, modeled on the Virginia Bill of Rights by George Mason (which Franklin also helped shape).

Private speech is not as legally protected. You can be sued for libel, misrepresentation, and defamation, though these are civil suits. You can also be found guilty of hate speech, which is intended to intimidate or impel people towards violent insurrection. The Bill of Rights protection on free speech primarily means that the government cannot arrest protesters show of armed sedition, such as the Whiskey Rebellion.

Technically speaking, every time Trump uses Twitter to condemn someone in government, he's violating the first amendment. Of course, he's guilty of so much more, that it likely doesn't matter at this point.

[moose65]

4. Beats me, but....

A lot of people have this misconception. I don't know how many times I've seen some right-winger in Facebook comments say something like "If you block me or delete my comment, you're violating my right of free speech." I've even had one or two who would send me a private Facebook message about it.

It does no good to argue with them, though. They are willfully ignorant.

I've also run up against people who complain that their local newspapers won't publish their letter to the editor. They claim that the paper is violating their "freedom of the press." Geez....

[lame54]

5. If Trump wins that will change...

Calling your capitalist boss an asshole will be a jailable offense

[treestar]

6. The general stupid that goes around

It also means no one should argue with you. Just accept your opinion.