"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech; or the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
U.S. Constitution, 1st Amendment (1791)
There was a post recently on Nextdoor where, once again, someone spoke of the right to free speech as though it is an absolute positive right, when indeed, as the text of the amendment itself shows, it is a negative right exercisable against the government and nobody else.
Facebook can censor you, as can the Indianapolis Star, Nextdoor.com, and the guy who refuses to let you use his microphone to broadcast your crazy views. None of these abridge your right to free speech, as guaranteed by the 1st amendment. It's only when the government does so that it becomes a problem.
There are numerous aspects to this concept, and this is only one of them. However, please bear in mind that the government can't pass a law to suppress your views, but any private organization under the sun can suppress your views to their hearts' content.
No comments:
Post a Comment