The Limits of Free Speech

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech. But does that mean we're allowed to say anything we want?

Well, not quite.

The limits on free speech come from the basic principle that you're not allowed to harm others to get what you want.

You can win in the marketplace, with better goods and lower prices, and even put your competition out of business, but you're not allowed to use

speech to threaten to hurt someone, either verbally or nonverbally.

And you're not allowed to deceive people to get what you want – that's called fraud. You'd be harming them because they're relying on false information.

Free speech means you can:

Proclaim your beliefs and passions,

argue your opinions,

and speak out against what you consider to be injustices.

As long as you don't defame or abuse people, OR advocate the immediate use of force

OR intentionally misrepresent the truth to people... or to those who they might deal with,

You have the freedom to share whatever is on your mind.