Free Speech . . . for Whom?

 

“[Here is] the crucial point about First Amendment rights: If we allow the government the discretion to ban hateful speech, the only important question is who gets to decide what’s hateful. We can be sure it won’t be those who are oppressed, nor their advocates. It will be whoever has political power.” . . . 

“Speech restrictions are like poison gas: they seem like a good idea when you’ve got the gas and a deserving target in sight. But then the wind shifts and blows the gas back on you.”

 

—Ira Glasser, former president, American Civil Liberties Union, “ACLU Hero Ira Glasser: How Freedom of Speech Protects You from Rulers Like Trump,” Daily Beast, Oct. 5, 2020.

• Editorial Comment: Free speech for me, but not for thee? (Nat Hentoff)

 

PeezPIX 

College Cove, 2014.

 

 

 

 

Look Who’s Laughing! in the April issue of Senior News.

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

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Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism