Source: Persuasion
by Teresa M Bejan
“This American approach to speech is often criticized as ‘absolutist,’ but I think this characterization is misleading. There are, after all, plenty of legal limits on speech, even in the United States, for instance with respect to fraud, slander, and libel. The American approach is, in my view, better and more fairly characterized as a ‘free speech fundamentalist’ one. By this, I mean that it insists that there is something special about speech — as both the spoken and the written word — that makes its protection uniquely and profoundly significant for creating the kind of society that the Founders envisioned: one that is tolerant, self-governing, and free. But this re-characterization simply leaves us with more questions. To start: Where did this free speech fundamentalism come from, if not the liberal tradition?” (10/09/24)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-peoples-history-of-free-speech