Freedom of Speech Doesn’t Mean Freedom From Consequences
The right to own a gun doesn’t make murder legal.
I came across this comic strip on social media this week. It perfectly sums up for me what free speech is, and what it isn’t. But perhaps doesn’t go quite far enough. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean you’re immune to the potentially illegal consequences of what you say. Just because you’re practicing free speech (which is legal) doesn’t mean you aren’t also breaking the law in the way you use it.
A mob of Trump supporters breaking into the Capitol is illegal. Trump using his right to free speech to incite them to do so, may also be illegal. A court of law would need to examine the evidence in order to decide that conclusively. Twitter and other social media platforms banning Trump’s accounts is not violating his right to free speech. It is simply a case of those platforms deciding not to host him while he exercises that right.
If you’re having trouble understanding how free speech can be legal, and protected by law, but you can still be held accountable for the consequences of your words, it may help to think of gun ownership. As an American citizen…
