free speech en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /fɹiː ˈspiːtʃ/
Meanings
-
(uncountable) Freedom of speech; the ability or right to express one's opinions, particularly (strictly) the legal right to do so without the government forbidding it via laws, but also (loosely) the ability to do so without facing social repercussions, or one's employer firing one for it, or social media sites not hosting it on their platforms, etc.
Using “free speech” as a cop-out is just as intellectually dishonest and just as morally bankrupt. […] Free speech is a bedrock value in this country. But it isn’t the only one. Like all values, it must be held in tension with others, such as equality, safety and robust democratic participation.
2019 October 4, Andrew Marantz, “Free Speech Is Killing Us”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.
1929, Oliver Wendell Holmes (Jr.), The Dissenting Opinions of Mr. Justice Holmes, page 234:The term free speech, which appears in this book's subtitle as well as in its text, is used more or less interchangeably with freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression to refer to all of the expressive rights guaranteed by the forty-five words of the First Amendment, as interpreted by the U.S. courts.
2003, Mike Godwin, Cyber Rights, The MIT Press, →ISBN, page 2:Section 8 (c) of the act has been erroneously referred to since its passage as a free-speech provision. Actually this section permits the employer to intimidate and coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed by the act. It is not a question of free speech at all. Giving the antiunion employer an unbridled right to condemn and deride the basic rights of employees to self-organization and collective bargaining is not free speech but a license to defeat the exercise of these fundamental rights.
1953, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Hearings, page 3631:
-
(uncountable) Speech which is protected by this right; public expression of one's opinions that is, or merits being, protected from restraint or censorship.
Saying certain things or posting fliers or writing in student or independent newspapers is not free speech but instead is sexual harassment or racial harassment.
2007, Wells Earl Draughon, While America Sleeps: How Islam, Immigration and Indoctrination Are Destroying America from Within, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 116:I would argue that we must be concerned with free speech but that cyber racism is not free speech, it is racist speech that provides an opportunity to devalue part of humankind ...
2017, Fernne Brennan, Race Rights Reparations: Institutional Racism and The Law, Routledge, →ISBN:[…] shouting fire-panic-in-theatre is not free speech at all. It is an explosive, deadly action.
1963, Supreme Court of the United States October Term, 1963, case of George Albert Rutherford against the United States of America (link)
Deriveds
Relateds
freedom of religion · compelled speech · right to keep and bear arms · free-spoken · freedom of the press · free as in speech · freedom of contract · hate speech · freedom of assembly · freedom of movement
Synonyms
Translations (64)
hu szólásszabadság (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sl svoboda govora (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · fi sananvapaus (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ar حُرِّيَّة اَلتَّعْبِير (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ia libertate de expression (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · mi manawhiri kōrero (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · mr मुक्त भाषण (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · lt žodžio laisvė (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ur آزادی گفتار (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · fr liberté d'expression (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · pl wolność słowa (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ja 言論の自由 (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · be свабо́да сло́ва (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · nn ytringsfridom (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · cs svoboda vyjadřování (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · nb ytringsfrihet (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · cs svoboda projevu (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · lv vārda brīvība (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ka სიტყვის თავისუფლება (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · vi tự do ngôn luận (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · uk свобо́да сло́ва (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ia libertate de parola (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ca llibertat d'expressió (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sh слобода говора (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ko 표현의 자유 (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · is málfrelsi (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · da ytringsfrihed (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · et sõnavabadus (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · hy խոսքի ազատություն (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · de freie Meinungsäußerung (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ar حُرِّيَّة الْكَلَام (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · el ελευθερία έκφρασης (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · cmn 言論自由 /言论自由 (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · hi अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · gl liberdade de expresión (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · bg свобода на слово (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · grc ἐλευθεροστομία (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sk sloboda slova (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sv yttrandefrihet (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sq liri e të shprehurit (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · cs svoboda slova (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · eo parollibereco (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · tr ifade özgürlüğü (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · nl vrije meningsuiting (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · he חופש הביטוי (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · es libertad de palabra (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · mk слобода на говор (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · gd saorsa cainnte (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · it libertà di parola (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · km សេរីភាពបញ្ចេញមតិ (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ru свобо́да сло́ва (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · pt liberdade de expressão (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · grc ἰσηγορία (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · nl vrijheid van meningsuiting (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ka გამოხატვის თავისუფლება (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · fa آزادی بیان (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ka აზრის თავისუფლება (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · th เสรีภาพในการพูด (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · de Redefreiheit (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · ro libertatea cuvântului (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · es libertad de expresión (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · grc πᾰρρησῐ́ᾱ (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sh sloboda govora (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)) · sw uhuru wa maoni (the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech))