We Need To Fight For Free Speech More Than Ever

The American people have spoken. And they’ve chosen to hand the full power of our military, the nuclear codes, and the courts to a petty, vindictive man who wants to punish anyone who disagrees with him.

I’m not going to say much directly about the election this week, because what is there that I can actually say? I’m not a registered Democrat and am not particularly partisan (I criticize Democrats all the time for dumb policies), but it was entirely clear that in this election there was one choice who was going to keep fundamental rights in place, work for the entire country, and focus on building a better society.

And there was one option who is a convicted criminal, guilty of sexual assault, who made it clear that his campaign was based on hate and spite. He has all but shouted from the rooftops that his next administration (with the guardrails off from last time) will be a vengeance tour of punishment, destruction, and grift for himself and his friends.

And America chose that latter option.

It’s all kinds of fucked up, and it will cause tremendous harm and totally unnecessary, totally avoidable pain. But it’s what we have to deal with now.

Yes, I am sure that there will be a few dipshits in the comments gloating and mocking. Because, really, that’s all they have that motivates them in their pathetic lives. They are not here to work to improve anything. They are just here to tear people down, and they get off on hate and spite. Ignore them. They have to face themselves and their own darkness in the mirror. And you know full well it will haunt them.

If you want some sort of broader thoughts on what to do, I recommend Ken White’s writeup of “what should we do now” which has some excellent suggestions.

But I want to focus on just one point: we need to fight to protect our free speech rights more than ever. Soon, we will have the most anti-free speech Presidential administration in anyone’s lifetime.

Yes, some will say that he was President before, and it wasn’t that bad, but that’s wrong. First of all, it was bad. He spent much of his time as President attacking the free speech of anyone who criticized him, including the media. And, unlike last time, the general infrastructure and institutions that protected free speech are much more at risk and prone to be dismantled by this administration.

In his “acceptance” speech, he has already signaled that he views the press as an enemy within, and he has encouraged violence and attacks on the press. His soon-to-be head of the FCC has talked about removing the (non-existent) licenses of TV channels he doesn’t like, and you know that this is only signaling an intent to punish any outlet that speaks critically of Trump and his cronies.

In the US, we still have a functioning First Amendment and historical precedents that protect free speech. However, both parties have spent years trying to whittle that away. As we’ve covered here on Techdirt, Republicans and Democrats alike have been pushing a variety of anti-speech laws that keep getting rejected by courts. But the Republicans have built up a new set of institutions that, in a break with the past, are equally against free speech, and willing to rewrite a century of First Amendment jurisprudence, so long as it’s in support of the MAGA agenda (“it’s okay if Trump and his supporters do it, but it can be stopped if anyone else does it.”)

Of course, it is particularly annoying that Democrats have been eager participants in the efforts to curb speech, and that needs to stop. Here in California, the courts have (correctly!) tossed out multiple Gavin Newsom-endorsed laws for clearly violating the First Amendment. The California legislature along with Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta need to stop fucking trying to undermine the First Amendment.

Ditto for efforts in Congress. Too many Democrats have fallen for bullshit moral panics that were nothing more than GOP-driven attempts to censor speech they don’t like.

For now, the Supreme Court has actually been pretty good on the First Amendment. However, Justices Alito and Thomas (along with Gorsuch) have indicated a real openness to ruling in favor of whatever Trump wants. So far, Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett have actually been surprisingly strong on still protecting the First Amendment, while Justice Jackson has been surprisingly weak.

Either way, the point stands: we need to protect our free speech rights more than ever. Trump and the MAGA crowd are going to gleefully try to stomp them out. They will push to repeal Section 230. They will push to outlaw all kinds of content they dislike (if you thought existing book bans were bad, just wait). They will push to outlaw all sorts of things.

And Democrats are going to fall for bullshit moral panics and agree to help them.

Don’t let them. Speak up and protect free speech rights.

I know that some people will incorrectly claim that Trump was only elected because he and his supporters were allowed to lie with impunity about basically everything. But that’s bullshit, first of all, and giving up your free speech rights won’t help.

Shutting down free speech rights is capitulating in advance, because you are handing over the very tools that Trump and his censorial cronies will use to shut up anyone who criticizes him.

In the coming years, there will be many efforts to try to protect the US against growing authoritarian and fascist plans. None of that will be possible if we don’t protect our free speech rights first.