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Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech is having the liberty to speak and write without being fearful of government

restrictions. Around the world people have been practicing their freedom of speech. Although it is mainly

focused on within the United States, it has still been practiced everywhere. Free speech has changed after

many decades. The changes include the difference between free speech throughout history, and degrading

free speech and positive free speech. In many ways, the changes of free speech have become more strict

and unfair.

Freedom of speech did not begin when the United States first separated from Great Britain. Free

speech dates back to the ancient Greeks who adopted the phrase “parrhesia” or free speech. This dates

back to the end of the fifth century B.C. In 1766, Sweden became the first country with legal protection of

press freedom. The Freedom of the Press Act had abolished the censorship of all printed publications,

although the strong punishments for writing against the state or king were kept.

Then “in 1770, Denmark became the first state in the world to abolish all censorship (The War on

Free Speech, 2022).” Prime Minister Johann Freidrich Struensee created the decree which was censored

in Hamburg a decade before. He was later overthrown and executed in 1772. The prior restraint of the

press was not reimposed after his execution. On December 15, 1791 the United States adopted the First

Amendment.

But before the United States Bill of Rights happened, there were other countries that had Bill of

Rights first. “Freedom of speech was recognized first in the English Bill of Rights in 1689 (Freedom of

Speech, 2018).” Then followed the French Declaration of Rights of Man in 1789. The First Amendment

protects Freedom of Speech for Americans. This is one of the first ten amendments that are known as the

Bill of Rights. “The Bill of Rights provides constitutional protection for certain individual liberties,

including freedoms of speech, assembly and worship (Freedom of Speech, 2017).”

The free speech clause of the First Amendment has been served as one of the most powerful

individual rights that are in protection of the Federal Government. The First Amendment protects not just

political speech and journalism but other types as well. Those types include; “religious speech, artistic
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speech, scientific speech, most forms of popular entertainment, nonobscene pornography, commercial

advertisements, commercial advertisements and even nude dancing (The Non-First Amendment Law of

Freedom of Speech, 2021).” The power and size of of this amendment have given a strong cultural status.

Although the First Amendment is not the only legal mechanism that protects the rights of free speech.

These rights are protected in all different kinds of way.

One right that is protected is our Postal Laws. “Today the United States’ ails are only one of the

mechanism through which information travels around the body politic (The Non-First Amendment Law

of Freedom of Speech, 2021).” While in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Federal postal policies

determined how the post office performed the important knowledge-diffusion roles. During these times

the post office was the vital information network. Congress shaped the policy while know self-

consciously in an attempt to promote the same value as the First Amendment protects.

This motivation became clear when examine the arguments made to explain and justify the Post

Office Act of 1792. This Act enacted as a radical change to federal postal policies. “Prior to 1792, the

American postal service, like the royal postal service that preceded it, had been run as a money-making

venture for the government (The Non-First Amendment Law of Freedom of Speech, 2021).” The Post

Office Act changed the fact that newspaper publishers and other members of the institutional press to pay

for the privilege of using postal services.

The second law is Common Carrier and Quasi-Common Carrier Law. The Common Carrier and

Quasi-Common Carrier Laws have limits on the ability of many private media companies that spread

information to the public. The limits in the United States are to control the content of the information that

is being spread. Along with the rates they charge consumers for using the communication networks to

speak. This law protects free speech values and interests, but do so the non-First Amendment means as

well. There are many other laws that fall under the non-First Amendment.

Freedom of speech is allowing to vocalize your voice. “Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo

declared more than 80 years ago, “is a matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of

freedom. (The Ongoing Challenge to Define Free Speech, N.A.)” Many years later, debate still continues
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about the meaning of free speech and our First Amendment companion, freedom of the press. There is a

regular debate about whether or not there is a breaking point in free speech. “A line at which the hateful

or harmful or controversial nature of speech should cause it to lose constitutional protection under the

First Amendment (The Ongoing Challenge to Define Free Speech, N.A.)”

The term hate speech is most commonly used when talking about the controversy surrounding

opinions, or any type of speech someone makes. There have been multiple recent movements that have

cause hate speeches to be renewed in the United States. These controversial movements are Black Lives

Matter and the Me Too movement. Both of these movements have consciousness and crated a national

dialogue for racism, sexual harassment and many other topics.

Although there is no category of speech that may uniformly be prohibited or punished. This is

unless the hateful speech is threats or incites lawlessness, or may include a motive for a criminal act.

These may be punished as part of a hate crime but not offensive speech. “Offensive speech that creates a

hostile work environment or that disrupts school classrooms may be prohibited (The Ongoing Challenge

to Define Free Speech, N.A).”

Students in public schools have a range of free speech under the First Amendment. Any student

can speak, write, petition, and assemble groups. “There is a fundamental distribution between public and

private school students under the First Amendment (What Rights to Freedom of Expression do Student

Have, N.A.).” In public schools, their officers act as the government, they act according to the principles

of the Bill of Rights. As in private schools, there are no armed government. Thus meaning that the First

Amendment does not protect the students. Courts allow school officers to regulate certain types of

expression allowed. If a student were to use hate or harmful speech, the officer is allowed to restrain this

student.

Overall, throughout history, the meaning of the First Amendment has changed. It will always

change depending on the situations the country is encountering. There are many other laws to protect our

right to have free speech. Evening being free to speak our minds, there is a reaching point of when the
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free speech is no longer constitutional. Learning about our First Amendment is learned through school,

which allows students to express their own speeches and voice until the speech reaches a point.
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References

Frampton, T. W., & Lakier, G. (2021, May 10). The non–first amendment law of freedom of speech.

Harvard Law Review. Retrieved July 15, 2022, from https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/05/the-non-first-

amendment-law-of-freedom-of-speech/

Freedom of speech: Free U.S. government articles for students in grades 7-10: We the people scholastic.

US Government for Kids in Grades 4-10. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2022, from

https://wethepeople.scholastic.com/grade-7-10/freedom-of-speech.html

History.com Editors. (2017, December 4). Freedom of speech. History.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022,

from https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/freedom-of-speech

Mchangama, J. (2022, February 26). The War on Free Speech. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved July 15, 2022,

from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2022-02-09/war-free-speech-censorship

The Ongoing Challenge to Define Free Speech. Americanbar.org. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2022, from

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-ongoing-

challenge-to-define-free-speech/the-ongoing-challenge-to-define-free-speech/

What rights to freedom of expression do students have? Freedom Forum Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved July

15, 2022, from https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/about/faq/what-rights-to-freedom-of-expression-

do-students-have/