An American Constitution states freedom of speech likewise.
What is the meaning of freedom of speech first amendment?
The Constitution of United States guarantees the freedom of speech to every citizen of this country with the objective to provide right to express one’s feelings and opinions without any fear by means of words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode of such time because of this reason that freedom of speech is considered as the most fundamental condition of liberty.
Freedom of speech is the integrity of a democratic governance and it has leaked hate to people to speak, give opinions without any fear of restrictions, attribution or representation by the government.
Freedom of speech helps people to organize and strengthen their hostile, societal and political stance and also help others to become a responsible citizen of this country but when the freedom of speech becomes straight for the country or defamatory then it is big dangerous therefore for the security purpose through First Amendment the reasonable restrictions have been imposed.
Freedom of Speech, it’s the first part of the first amendment.
And it means I’m allowed to say whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever I want.
Right?
Freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of the America and has since been adopted by countless other countries. But it’s also one of the most misunderstood, and let’s face it, abused rights that we have.
So today, let’s take a look at what the First Amendment actually says and what Freedom of Speech actually is…
“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech”
Seriously, that’s the entire thing. The first amendment contains five rights, and this is all it has to say about freedom of speech.
So that’s it right?.
You can say whatever it is you want.
No.
Not even close.
While you are afforded the ability to say 99.9% of whatever you want to say, wherever and whenever.
It’s that .1% of things that people often misunderstand and think they are protected against, when they’re not.
If you just look at the ten words in the constitution that afford you the right to free speech, you would think there would be no rules.
But there are.
The prime example everyone brings up is that you’re not allowed to tell “fire” in a crowded theater or “bomb” at an airport.
Why not?
Because you’re inciting a panic that may itself cost the lives of more people than an actual fire or bomb.
So it’s against the law.
Now let’s look at lying.
Most of the time, lying is okay.
I finished my homework. Or, I love you too. You know, the standard stuff.
We all know it’s bad but for the most part, you’re allowed to do it.
Except when you aren’t.
Like when you’re on the witness stand and you’ve sworn to tell the truth.
That’s perjury.
Or if you’re being questioned by the police, if you’re caught lying, that’s obstructing justice.
Those are pretty obvious examples that most people know about though.
If you’ve been following any drama, first of all shame on you.
But you’re also probably aware of the recent wave of false rape and pedophile allegations made against some pretty famous youtubers.
Is calling someone a pedophile within your first amendment rights?
Only if they actually are one – and have been either legally convicted or medically classified as one.
The same goes for calling someone a sociopath or psychopath, other words like to throw at each other. Or when your angry ex goes around telling people you have aids.
You’re not protected by freedom of speech, if you are lying about someone’s mental health, criminal background, or medical status.
This is called slander if you say it and libel if you write it.
And while it won’t land you in jail, you can be sued in civil court for defamation of character.
Freedom of speech does not protect you against falsely accusing someone of a crime or spreading lies about someone in order to hurt them socially or professionally.
On the topic of hurting people, you’re also not allowed to actually say you are going to hurt someone.
Threatening statements are criminally illegal, even if you’re joking.
In 2013, a League of Legends player named Justin Carter made a facebook post where he said he was going to shoot up a kindergarten and eat their still beating hearts….
He was arrested and charged with terroristic threatening, is still awaiting trial – two and a half years later. He could face up to 8 years in prison if convicted.
Many people have claimed this was just a sarcastic joke taken out of context and that his charges are an infringement on freedom of speech.
Threats are not protected under freedom of speech but since he has not been convicted, I cannot tell you whether this is a joke or not. I leave that for the judge and jury to decide. Most of these laws were written before the days of the internet.
The days of being anonymous on the internet are long gone.
You are accountable for what you say and can very easily be tracked down.
Think long and hard about anything you want to post.
Posting a threat on the internet is now no different than if you were to say it to the person’s face in a school hallway.
Which is a nice segue into cyberbullying and online harassment.
Youtube updated its terms of service, saying that harassment, cyberbullying, and negative or hurtful statements about other users will no longer be allowed and could lead to videos being removed or channels being shut down.
Which has caused many large youtube channels to get out their torches and pitchforks saying that this is a violation of free speech.
Again, let’s take a look at the first amendment.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The first amendment protects you from the government infringing on your freedom of speech.
Youtube is a private company providing a mostly free service to users who must agree to their terms in order to use their platform.
They are completely within their right to say what is and not allowed on their website.
Private companies are allowed to set their own rules regarding the speech of people who use their service or work for them.
When you click “I agree” on all of those website terms and conditions or sign an employment contract or endorsement deal, there is almost always something in there regarding what you’re allowed to say.
If you are a vegan who works at a restaurant and you tell every customer who orders a steak that they are evil baby cow murderers, you are not protected from losing your job by freedom of speech.
If you host an afternoon cooking show or own a baseball team and decide to use the n-word a few dozen times in public, your employer or advertisement deals are within their rights to cut business ties with you.
Freedom of Speech protects you from the government throwing you in jail – unless you say one of the few things I mentioned.
It does not protect you from the social and professional consequences of saying whatever you want which brings us to everyone’s favorite poster child for freedom of speech.
While they say some of the most awful things ever uttered by man, they don’t break any of the previously mentioned laws. If they had some sort of endorsement deal, they could lose it.
If they were on private land while protesting a funeral, they could be arrested for trespassing. But there is nothing preventing them from saying the things they say.
Can they say “thank god for Orlando” or “god hates –insert epithet here”?
As horrible as it is, yes they can but have they ever said “We’re going to go shoot up a gay nightclub?”
The next time you choose to say or post something, stop and ask yourself:
“Would the Westboro Baptist Church get away with saying this?”
If the answer is no, you may want to rethink hitting that send button along with a few of your other life choices.
Freedom of speech gives us a wide range of things we’re allowed to say.
There are a very few things we can be put in jail for saying.
A few more things we can be sued or fined for saying. And a lot of things that we can lose our reputations, careers, and privileges for saying.
I cannot stress this enough, the first amendment protects you from the government in most cases. It is not a magic “just kidding” button you can hit whenever you say something that lands you in hot water.
So the next time you want to exercise your right to free speech, suely you take a second to think about what you’re about to say, because now, you know better.
Do you know the restrictions on your freedom of speech?
Definitely, freedom of speech and expression is the fundamental right and hence it is the birthright of every citizen of this country to express himself or herself freely but many of us interpret it as the matter of absolute right but it is not the fact rather there are reasonable restrictions on your freedom of speech.
So in this article I will discuss the reasonable restrictions applicable on your freedom of speech.
What are narrow restrictions in reference to reasonable restrictions?
Nothing in the first amendment shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the estate from making any law as such law imposes.
It is never restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the congress in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of the State.
The security of the state friendly relations with foreign States public order decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court defamation or incitement to an offense based on certain grounds.
This article puts certain reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech.
Let’s check out those grounds in brief.
-
Security of the estate:
If there is any threat to the interest of the security of the state reasonable restrictions can be imposed security threat may be violence intended to overthrow the government waging of war rebellion against the government external aggression or war etc. -
Relation with foreign states:
If someone is intended to jeopardize the friendly relation of the United States with other states in such a case the reasonable restriction can be applied. -
Disturbance of Public Safety:
If someone intentionally attempts to disturb the public peace safety and tranquility then reasonable restrictions can be imposed. -
Decency and morality:
if someone violates the decency and morality in a society the possible restrictions can be imposed however the parameter of morality varies through time to time and from place to place. -
Contempt of Court:
Support freedom of speech doesn’t permit contempt of court and hence imposes reasonable restrictions on it. -
Defamation:
The freedom of speech and expression doesn’t permit any person to make any statement that injures the reputation of another. -
Restriction as to Religion:
The first amendment prohibits the conversion of religion with due force and against the will. It also protects its citizens to speak against the religion or to criticise some religion. -
Hate Speech:
The right to freedom of speech does allow someone to promote racism or hatred words against the religion or race which would promote the serious consequences. -
Incitement:
Incitement to an offense such a reasonable restriction prohibits a person from making any statement that incites people to commit an offense. -
Sovereignty and Integrity:
Sovereignty and Integrity of the United State is the ground that was added later by the constitutional amendment this restriction prohibits any person from making statements that challenge the integrity and sovereignty of the United States.
Should There Be Restrictions On Freedom Of Speech?
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any person that goes against religion.
It protects the right to free speech, the right to the freedom of press and the right to peaceful assembly. It was adopted on December 15 1791.
Now freedom of speech does not grant you the ability to make threats of violence or incite hatred for particular groups therefore not an argument that freedom of speech limitations would help stop.
Let’s say, For Example.
Child suicide rates because it’s virtually impossible to change those rapes so dramatically by posting up limitations of what a bully can say freedom of speech is important not to be censored with governmental censorship comes governmental corruption.
The government would become corrupt if they limit what can be said through their country?
Now when the government restricts certain unallowable opinions and at the same time pretends to be protecting.
Freedom of speech is essentially saying you’re free to say whatever you want as long as you don’t say. This is the same principle that existed and even the most pilot Aryan societies seeing that society has free speech becomes meaningless.
Now indeed the only thing about giving the government the power to limit speech is that it will be using power unpredictably the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, Roger Ballwin put it well when he said “In order to defend the people, you have to defend the people you hate.”
Now a society with provocative speech to be pushed would be a society without controversial politics or art or ideas. It would be a society in which citizens feared expressing distant thoughts.
I disagree with a lot of what people say either with religion, politics or hate speech and so on. They should not be silenced, they have just as much of the right to see what they believe as I do that’s what the reason.
We have freedom of speech just because I don’t like it or I disagree with it, doesn’t mean it should be restricted. This also goes into if you say what you mean freely, you’re going to have to deal with the backlash. That’s the thing is freedom of speech either gets people on your side and looks smart or you have everyone hate you.
Now the government is not our Creator, has no right or authority to tell you what to do, how to think, how to live, how to feel, has no authority over you.
The only power it has, is the control with you with fear I have none. You cannot threaten a cow to produce more milk with fear of death or torture imprisonment and you cannot scare me either I do what I want, how I want and there is nothing you can say about it. You can lock me, up torch me, kill me and I will still speak my mind.
