The Free Speech Century

"These essays trace how the interpretation of the First Amendment has evolved. It’s very useful, because it goes through many different categories of speech and many different legal theories about speech. There’s a great essay by Catherine McKinnon about how First Amendment doctrine fails to protect lesser heard voices from being shouted down. It’s a very contested issue. The Supreme Court recently ruled that campaign donations are a form of political speech and that to put strict limits on donations impinges on speech. The Court has also held that corporations have speech rights and are free to invest in a politician’s election or reelection. The result of these holdings has been a flood of money which pollutes open discourse and drowns out the voices of average citizens. At issue is whether we construe free speech as simply a right that attaches to individuals or as a social good which should be cultivated by, in some instances, curtailing the rights of individual speakers? American jurisprudence includes examples of both those views; there is a tension between them. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter At PEN America, we increasingly think of ourselves as guardians of open discourse. A lot of noxious speech has a corrosive effect on open discourse. Take disinformation and online harassment. It’s generally not illegal to lie in politics or use menacing language, but both undermine the open discourse that ensures the health of a democracy. Preserving open and healthy discourse may involve some voluntary measures to restrict harmful content in certain forums and social media platforms."