Free Speech—Pineapple on Pizza!!

The topic of free speech is complicated and huge, so I’m just going to nibble on one little piece of it…The part of our Constitution’s First Amendment that deals with free speech is short: “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech.”

That’s it. Basically this amendment means that the US government may not restrict speech. (And by government, it’s all levels—-Congress, state, city, county, etc.)

The government only has jurisdiction in public spaces, so that’s where the First Amendment says speech cannot be restricted. The government has little control, when it comes to speech, over private spaces. 

If I walk around my city and stand on a street corner and proclaim “All pizzas must include pineapple!”, the city can’t really stop me unless I break some sort of disturbing the peace law. I can preach to every citizen who walks by: “All pizzas must include pineapple!” I’m in a public space. I can enter a government building and make the same proclamation about pineapple. 

But if I were to step inside a business and proclaim, “All pizzas must include pineapple,” the business owner has the right to restrict my speech. “You’re outta here, missy. We don’t like that sort of talk around here.”

The First Amendment protects us from government censorship, not private. So when people get upset about Facebook or Twitter banning someone, they claim that the person’s First Amendment right to free speech is being violated.

But social media platforms are private businesses. Even though you may chat with someone as if you were standing in the town square (a public space), you are in a space owned by a private company. The First Amendment does not protect us from censorship by private companies, private colleges, etc.

So next time you think your First Amendment rights are being trampled on, ask yourself who owns the venue? Does the city, state, or federal government (and therefore you) own the space, or does a private firm own it? Even if you are being censored, if it’s privately owned, the First Amendment has nothing to do with it.

Of course, there is much debate over our right to free speech outside of the First Amendment, a can of worms I’m not ready to open right now. I started looking into it and my brain melted….Maybe later.