WASHINGTON: The assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has ignited a fierce national debate about the limits of free speech in the United States.
High-ranking Democrats accused President Donald Trump of waging war on free speech after he celebrated ABC’s suspension of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel had accused the political right of using Kirk’s death to score political points in the ongoing cultural conflict.
The American Civil Liberties Union accused the Trump administration of operating outside constitutional safeguards to target its opponents.
ACLU director Christopher Anders stated this approach goes beyond McCarthyism in abusing power to silence disliked ideas.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees freedom of speech as a fundamental right for all Americans.
Ratified in 1791, the amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press, and peaceful assembly.
Georgetown University law professor David Super calls the amendment central to American national identity.
UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh explained the First Amendment even protects morally repulsive speech.
Volokh emphasized that US history contains numerous attempts to stifle dissident voices throughout different eras.
The Sedition Act of 1798 forbade malicious writings against the government under President John Adams.
World War I saw bans on pacifist ideology while the mid-20th century punished communist sympathizers.
Southern states attempted to silence the civil rights movement during the 1960s.
Trump’s political movement has focused on combating so-called cancel culture from leftist progressives.
Democrats now accuse Trump of employing similar tactics against media organizations and universities.
Former president Barack Obama wrote that the administration has taken cancel culture to dangerous new levels.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi sparked controversy by suggesting prosecution of hate speech related to Kirk’s death.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz immediately countered that the Constitution absolutely protects hate speech.
Bondi later clarified she meant threats of violence that individuals incite against others.
Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson called for civil disobedience against any new speech limitations.
Some far-right voices criticized Trump’s August decree punishing flag burning with prison time.
The US Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning constitutes free speech protected by the First Amendment.
Conservative radio host Jesse Kelly declared he would torch a flag if he felt like it as a free American citizen. – AFP