Free Speech

Free speech policy addresses the boundaries of constitutionally protected expression, the regulation of speech on private platforms, and debates about what speech should be allowed in public institutions like universities and government agencies. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits government — not private companies — from restricting speech based on its content, with limited exceptions for incitement to imminent violence, true threats, obscenity, and defamation. Social media has moved the core free speech debate from government censorship to private platform moderation: tech companies make billions of decisions daily about what content to allow, amplify, or remove — decisions with enormous consequences for public discourse. The debate is politically charged and has flipped: conservatives increasingly argue that platforms suppress conservative voices and should be treated as public utilities subject to speech obligations; liberals argue that companies have a First Amendment right to moderate content and that unmoderated speech enables harassment, disinformation, and radicalization. The Supreme Court has addressed platform moderation in Moody v. NetChoice (2024), vacating lower court decisions blocking Florida and Texas laws that would have restricted platforms' ability to moderate. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — which shields platforms from liability for user content — is the subject of reform proposals from both parties but for different reasons. Campus free speech is a separate battleground: debates over speaker disinvitations, safe spaces, and faculty discipline for controversial speech have generated significant legislation in many states and a Supreme Court ruling (FIRE v. Keefe, related cases) on campus speech protections.