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Speech On Freedom Of Speech

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Abby Koopmann
Ethics
Freedom of Speech
Professor Hunt
Culver Stockton College

Freedom of Speech

Americans have many freedoms that people in other countries can only wish they had. Just imagine a life where you could possibly be killed for speaking your mind and stating your opinion, other countries are living lives like that. According to Katy Davis, The United States ratified the first amendment on December 15th 1791 (Davis, n.d). We as a country don’t know where the government draws the line between hate speech and free speech. This is one of the many reasons why freedom of speech is a controversial topic. In this essay, I am using a Natural Law theory approach because we as people are entitled to free speech and human …show more content…

After the terrorist attack on September 11th, the US Patriot Act was expanded to allow the Justice Department to listen in on phone calls, search peoples history, and library records (Judith Boss, Analyzing Moral Issues 425). Many argued that this was a violation of their first amendment rights; this is a gray area on which ethical matters take place. Is it considered ethical to tap someone’s phone lines when it could possibly save millions of lives, or should you respect someone’s privacy and abide by the first amendment?
Some speeches can lead to misunderstandings or can send the wrong message therefore these limitations are put into place to benefit societies as a whole. A libertarian would deem hate speech as free speech because people have the right to express themselves therefore allowing them to say hateful and offensive comments. With the Natural Law theory, we are entitled to these rights such as free speech; however this does not mean we can say whatever we want whenever we want. A balance must be found that doesn’t limit ones rights as a human, but also tries to eliminate the use of hate speech as well.
Hate Speech
According to Hate Speech, they defined it as speech that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate a person because of some trait such as race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability (Hate Speech, n.d.). Hate speech can

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