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Should Freedom Of Speech Be Limited Essay

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Should freedom of speech be limited under special circumstances? The First Amendment of the United States Constitution provides the American people with the liberty of being able to freely express themselves. Over the years, Westboro Church, an American Baptist Church which is known for their seemingly inappropriate picketing on the basis of the words that their signs are displaying has generated the question if there should be limits on free speech. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and should not be restricted to mass extremes
Furthermore, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people’s freedom of speech as long as it doesn’t incite any type of violent behavior, fighting words and offensive speech. The United States is unique and incredible because it is one of the few countries where anyone can fully express themselves, for instance, being able to disagree with anyone or talk about how they feel about their current president freely. A country with different regulations on freedom of speech is Germany and how they handle certain topics. Particularly, the denial of the horrific events taken during The Holocaust. Expressing denial or making …show more content…

Restricting speech, in general, is not the way to go about things. If we use the same basis of seeing something that most would consider distasteful, then we would start restricting other things for the sake of restricting them. For instance, mass shootings are becoming an issue that everybody seems to have an opinion on. Most people suggest an outright ban on all guns and there's a problem with that concept. Restricting the Second Amendment strips away an innocent man's right to wield a weapon for personal protection. As America, we can't just start limiting foundational rights left and right because that leads to hurting the individual who came to America because of the freedom that America has when compared to other countries around the

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Whether laws intend to limit the offensive power of a minority or protect a minority from attacks, either way rights are lost. In the words of Roger Baldwin, founder of the civil liberties union, “In order to defend the people you like, you have to defend the people you hate.” Roger Baldwin’s statement indicates that if we limit the free speech of one group we ultimately limit our own freedoms. The first Amendment clearly states the limiting of any groups right is unconstitutional, “make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.” The basis behind not allowing the government to define free speech allows Americans to create their own social order and among themselves determine what is acceptable.

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For example being on a plane and yelling bomb or being in a crowded room and yelling fire when there is no bomb or fire. Yelling those things will cause people to panic and can cause problems and might injure people. Everything else should be protected under the first amendment. A quote from Benjamin Franklin, “Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech; which is the Right of every Man, as far as by it, he does not hurt or control the Right of another: And this is the only Check it ought to suffer, and the only Bounds it ought

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Another limitation that does not protect citizens under the First Amendment is using fighting words that disturb the peace. In April 1940, Walter Chaplinsky was in downtown in Rochester, New Hampshire handing out literature and speaking publicly about religion. As Chaplinsky continued to talk, the crowd continued to grow, blocking the streets and disturbing the area. The public around him became upset with Chaplinsky as he began to denounce religion as “racket”.

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As human beings, we are all born with an entitlement of freedom of speech or synonymously known as freedom of expression as it is a basic human right. It is stated in the Federal Constitution and it is important for us human beings to protect our rights to freedom of speech and expression as it is the backbone for a democratic society. Having the right to express oneself freely without any restrictions is an essential part of what it means to be a free human being. Article 10 in the Federal Constitution states that; (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression; (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.

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