"Is free speech important?"
It depends on what you call free speech. These days, many people say free speech is what agrees with their view. They say anything else is racist and hate speech. Ive seen that on these forums.
You should not have the right to say things like "fire" in a crowded place, but as long as it causes no harm like that, say what you will. If the person hearing it is offended, that's his or her problem. At the same time, deliberately trying to offend someone is wrong.
As an example, a white person saying "blacks are stupid" while alone in his own home would not be said to harm someone, no matter how racist he is, he is not trying to harm anyone. Now if he says it to his children it can cause them to be racist themselves. That would be harming the children. If he were saying it to the face of a black man, it would be a case of a racist trying to harm another. The same can be said if you reverse white and black.
The grey area would be where it is said in public, but there is no one there to be harmed, or if he were saying that on a podcast or something of that area. He does have the right to state his opinion and people will be offended, but did he say it to cause offense.
01-Jul-2020 06:42:39
