is freedom of speech the freedom to lie??

freedom of speech in one of the countries most sacred rights.

but freedom of speech does not give a person permission to yell fire in a theater that is not on fire..

when the fact is there is NO fire...yelling fire is a LIE

people could harm themselves and others believing a lie ..

will there ever be a time that honesty and truth again become sacred ??

or are we doomed to listen to lying politicians and internet trolls spewing lies and venom that have NO TRUTH

freedom of speech is NOT freedom to lie

of all the things trump has did that I do not agree with is trump made it ok to lie..

trump made being a liar acceptable

 

Since we all have lied at various times in our lives, we're lucky it's not against the law. That is unless your lie is endangering someone like yelling fire in a movie theatre.

 

I don't understand how Trump made lying okay? He didn't invent it.

And, NONE of that has anything to do with Freedom of Speech.

 

I think that's the point of the OP. That lying has nothing to do with Freedom of Speech when that speech is harmful to others or to the nation.

Trump did make lying "acceptable" to his supporters by somehow managing to get them to defend even his most blatant lies. But lying is still not Ok to those who are not his supporters.

 

Our elected representatives are protected from telling lies to The People on the floor of Congress in the interest of mantaining open and free discussion. I don't think making telling lies illegal is a good thing, but if we do it start with Congress.

Also, its going to often be very difficult to differentiate between someone telling lies and someine just being wrong/misinformed.

 

To answer you question, I’d say “Usually.”

Can’t lie to authorities. Can’t lie about people, sometimes. Can’t lie about situations sometimes.

As Fox’s opinion shows have taught us, it’s all about whether or not your audience reasonably expects you to be telling the truth.

 

Before that happened, Faux delegitimized the news biz by broadcasting overt lies under the guise of "fair and balanced" reporting. It has had an incalculable negative effect on the nation. It allowed for an inveterate liar to not only win the election for prez, but to have his inveterate lying be normalized.

 

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Freedom of speech is the freedom to spout whatever you want and make yourself look foolish.

Surely the irony isn't lost on you. The media have lied and called Trump a racist, homophobe etc for 5 straight years.

 

The truth is that constitutionally speaking there is only one exception to freedom of speech, that is if it can be proven that the speech in question violates someone else's rights. Otherwise the First Amendment is very clear: "Congress shall make NO law ... abridging the freedom of speech ...".

 

Sorry, the first amendment applies to government, not the private sector. All speech, including lies, is protected from government interference. No speech, true or false, is protected from private sector interference. The first amendment doesn't protect speakers from the consequences of what they say either. Hopefully that will help you understand how the law views freedom of speech.

 

So screaming “fire” in a theater not on fire is free speech??

 

not a poster here has lied as much as Trump

heck, Trump has lied more in just the last four years then all the posters here added up in their lifetimes

 

Of course. The person screaming it isn't forced to do it or forced not to do it. However, as I said, there could be consequences such as being arrested for disturbing the peace etc.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...e-more-than-20000-false-or-misleading-claims/

 

You complain about people lying and ask whether it is a part of freedom of speech and then turn right around and claim that Trump made being a liar acceptable? .... oh the IRONY!

Plain fact of the matter is that politicians have been lying ever since the position was first invented. Hell, even when Kings had absolute and iron fisted rule they still lied to the people. And get this...PEOPLE ACCEPTED IT.

And yes, Freedom of Speech is the freedom to lie. Does that mean that we should? Nope. Just like just because you have the freedom to bare arms doesn't mean that you should shoot your gun willy nilly in every direction. You may not like it. You can rail against it. But fact are facts. And the fact is you have a right to lie.

 

Yes technically Free speech does include the freedom to lie except in certain cases. Definition of characteristics of slander and libel is not protected by free speech and neither is lies that can reasonably be said to endanger the public good such as calling in bomb threats or something like that.

 

So where's the lie?

 

Yes it is freedom to lie

Trump certainly lies but he did not make it ok

All politicians, to include all presidents lie, people are simply partisan and focus on the lies of those politicians who they hate while ignoring the lies of politicians they support.

Btw yes it is legal to yell fire even if there is no fire. It is illegal to incite a panic. If no panic ensues one can yell it.

 

Yes, the OP offers circular reasoning, for sure.

Actually, freedom of speech IS freedom to lie.

More, because of that simple fact of life, freedom of speech demands that members of the public practice "buyer beware". Failure to practice "buyer beware" leads to being so very gullible.

 

Freedom of speech does not mean you can say WHATever you want, WHEREever you want.

Here's the 1st amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

The OP qualified that shouting fire in a crowded building WHEN THERE IS NO FIRE is a reckless act and can be punished so.

Otherwise, free speech means one can say what he wants when he wants. If is speech is slander or libel he can be punished under existing laws.

Get off your high horse.

 

I have repeatedly pointed out where you and others have exaggerated. If Trump had said something similar, they would have been labelled a lie.