The Eight Values of Free Expression helps highlight the importance of the First Amendment and Free Speech. I think the point that best encapsulates why it is so necessary to protect freedom of speech is the Marketplace of Ideas theory.
John Milton explained that without the diverse exchange of ideas through speech there is no way to decipher truth over falsehoods. I also feel that through the marketplace of ideas is necessary for progress. If we were to regulate speech and censor it there would be no objective way to disseminate what is "good" speech over what is not. On the terms of being necessary for progress, I think of what speech was used during the times of segregation and slavery, if the United States completely suppressed the speech of abolitionists there would have been no challenge to what was the norm at the time and there would not have been progress made
Through the study of free speech, especially in Supreme Court cases such as Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) it is evident that some of the most important speech is unpopular and controversial. In this case Bradenburg, a Klu Klux Klan leader, is tried under an Ohio law that restricts public speech and assembly that advocates for illicit behaviors to make a political reform. In Bradenburg's speech he criticized the government and asked people to take action but gave no specifics on what kind of action nor who, therefore the Supreme Court struck down the law and upheld Bradenburg's freedom of speech.
I think the right and ability to say controversial things and share ideas that people will not agree with is important because it continues the conversation of why it's wrong and the progress we will continue to make as a community.
Abrams v. United States (1919)
In 1919, during World War 1, Jacob Abrams and other immigrants protested the United States involvement in the Russian Civil war. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision that this violated the 1917 Espionage Act, claiming they were threatening the safety of the country and therefore their speech was not protected under the First Amendment.
The most notable aspect of this case was the dissenting opinion of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in which he stressed the dangers of suppressing speech and explained the "free trade in ideas". He discussed that people who think they are "right" (this could also mean the majority or the general norm) see it as logical to impose their ideas onto other through law, and eliminate the ability to challenge their ideas. He claimed that the "best truth" would only be discovered through the "free trade in ideas" which is expanded on in the Marketplace of Ideas theory.
(Justice Holmes)
The ideas presented by John Milton in the "Marketplace of Ideas" in opposition reminded me of a novel that emphasizes the danger of censorship and agrees with Milton. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, is a short novel that serves as a powerful warning of what life without the protection of the First Amendment. Bradbury depicts what a life of strict censorship and there is no variance in ideas. The government had outlawed books and changed how media could be consumed and in doing so they created a culture that in some ways outlawed controversy and any form of disagreement. The protagonist, Guy Montag, offers a glimpse into what life without a marketplace of ideas would look like- very dull. The book highlights the nature human need to learn from one another and how unfulfilling life without the transfer of ideas, especially controversial ideas would be. The same ideas shared by Milton and Bradbury explain the importance of avoiding censorship and government involvement in speech.
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