The idea that free speech is saying whatever you want whenever you want is wrong on a fundamental level. This is what’s termed “reckless speech,” and it in no way should be protected by the First Amendment, as Mary Anne Franks argues in her excellent book, Fearless Speech. Free speech was meant to empower the powerless against the powerful, not to provide protection for society’s privileged members to hurl invective at the unprivileged and marginalized. The American right – and parts of the left – have twisted the idea of actual free speech into an unrecognizable mess that tells Americans they should have the right to say any insulting thing any time they want to anyone online or in real life. “It’s a free country, I can do what I want,” they say, just as I said as a young, stupid child.
© Henning Bertram 2025