In the United States, Americans value the right to free speech. It is the foundation of our fundamental rights, provided for in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment states: “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…”
There are some that have a misconception that hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment and can be criminally prosecuted. Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, to name a few, restrict speech and have laws on the books that criminalize hate speech. The U.S. has no such law.
According to Bernard W. Bell, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark and a constitutional law expert, “freedom of speech” is a constitutionally recognized term—”hate speech” is not. Both, however, are protected under the First Amendment. READ MORE
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