Hate Speech Laws and the End of Critical Thinking

Criminalizing offensive speech is ending American, Canadian, and European freedoms.

Conservative demonstrators, who allege that the government pressured or colluded with social media platforms to censor right-leaning content under the guise of fighting misinformation, protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 18, 2024. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

Speech comes in many forms, of course, from news, entertainment, books, and movies, to singing protest songs, protesting in the street, or just having a good old chin-wag at your local cafe or bar. In a free society, the chances are that whatever anyone says, about half of the population will agree with that person and the other half won’t. Some may even be “offended.” So what?