AlexanderG
Active Member
I came across this article by Ben Shapiro (I know...) entitled "America's silent majority must fight liberals killing freedom of speech." Granted, it's Ben Shapiro so he may be intentionally misleading people since I'm sure he's aware of basic Constitutional law, but he exploits a common misconception in this piece.
In fact, the right to freedom of speech in the US, granted by the First Amendment, prohibits the government from imposing penalties on most forms of speech, whether political, religious, or otherwise. The government, and the government alone, cannot fine, jail, deny services, discriminate against, or otherwise punish people in the US for expressing their viewpoint unless that speech imposes a significant risk of imminent harm, or falls into a few other rare exceptions.
Unlike what that article suggests:
1. People not liking you because they think you're a horrible person based on what you've said, does not violate your freedom of speech.
2. Your boss warning you not to say offensive things because it will hurt the company's reputation does not violate your freedom of speech.
3. People boycotting you because they think you're horrible and don't want to give you their money does not violate your freedom of speech.
4. People disagreeing with you and saying critical things about your opinions, beliefs, or behavior does not violate your freedom of speech.
5. Corporations canceling your account or pulling your ads has nothing to do with your right of freedom of speech. If anything, the corporation's freedom of speech allows it to regulate the content of its platform and associations, free of government interference.
Please take a moment to understand this, if you weren't aware.
The old adage goes, "When you've been living with privilege, equality feels like oppression." A lot of US conservatives are coming to realize that they've effectively lost the culture war. A growing US majority no longer agrees with their views, and in fact finds their views immoral and harmful. This may be jarring to someone who is used to getting their way and having society agree with them, but this phenomenon is entirely unrelated to the right of freedom of speech.
There is no legally actionable harm. There is no redress owed to you. It's just that lots of people think you're a jerk and don't like you. Ultimately, you can either get used to this reaction or stop being a jerk, but no one is violating your rights.
In fact, the right to freedom of speech in the US, granted by the First Amendment, prohibits the government from imposing penalties on most forms of speech, whether political, religious, or otherwise. The government, and the government alone, cannot fine, jail, deny services, discriminate against, or otherwise punish people in the US for expressing their viewpoint unless that speech imposes a significant risk of imminent harm, or falls into a few other rare exceptions.
Unlike what that article suggests:
1. People not liking you because they think you're a horrible person based on what you've said, does not violate your freedom of speech.
2. Your boss warning you not to say offensive things because it will hurt the company's reputation does not violate your freedom of speech.
3. People boycotting you because they think you're horrible and don't want to give you their money does not violate your freedom of speech.
4. People disagreeing with you and saying critical things about your opinions, beliefs, or behavior does not violate your freedom of speech.
5. Corporations canceling your account or pulling your ads has nothing to do with your right of freedom of speech. If anything, the corporation's freedom of speech allows it to regulate the content of its platform and associations, free of government interference.
Please take a moment to understand this, if you weren't aware.
The old adage goes, "When you've been living with privilege, equality feels like oppression." A lot of US conservatives are coming to realize that they've effectively lost the culture war. A growing US majority no longer agrees with their views, and in fact finds their views immoral and harmful. This may be jarring to someone who is used to getting their way and having society agree with them, but this phenomenon is entirely unrelated to the right of freedom of speech.
There is no legally actionable harm. There is no redress owed to you. It's just that lots of people think you're a jerk and don't like you. Ultimately, you can either get used to this reaction or stop being a jerk, but no one is violating your rights.
Last edited:
