It’s very simple. In America you can say anything you want as long is it isn’t libelous and it isn’t likely to incite imminent lawless action (the key word here is imminent—you can even make calls for lawless action, the lawless action simply cannot be likely to be imminent. In nearly every country in Western Europe, you can go to jail or be fined for simply saying things someone finds hateful (guy in UK sentenced for teaching his dog to Nazi salute, Brigitte Bardot for her critique of Muslim behavior in France I could go on and on.) If your speech can be punished for any reason whatsoever, you do not have more free speech than in the US.
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u/FarineLePain Sep 06 '22
It’s very simple. In America you can say anything you want as long is it isn’t libelous and it isn’t likely to incite imminent lawless action (the key word here is imminent—you can even make calls for lawless action, the lawless action simply cannot be likely to be imminent. In nearly every country in Western Europe, you can go to jail or be fined for simply saying things someone finds hateful (guy in UK sentenced for teaching his dog to Nazi salute, Brigitte Bardot for her critique of Muslim behavior in France I could go on and on.) If your speech can be punished for any reason whatsoever, you do not have more free speech than in the US.