Skip to main content

Friday Special: The Left’s New Fear of Speech


As we said there in rejecting Virginia's claim that the only way it could enable its citizens to find their self-interest was to deny them information that is neither false nor misleading: "There is… an alternative to this highly paternalistic approach. That alternative is to assume that this information is not in itself harmful, that people will perceive their own best interests if only they are well enough informed, and that the best means to that end is to open the channels of communication rather than to close them.

- Thurgood Marshall, Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township Of Willingboro, 431 U.S. 85 (1977)


With 2020 being such a caustic year, many novel innovations will be forgotten. Does anyone remember that the global shutdown was supposed to last three weeks to “flatten the curve?” The phrase probably rings a bell now that you hear it, but I bet you haven’t thought of it lately. We took for granted that something had to be done. We blithely accepted that lockdowns were the only answer. And then we promptly forgot that they were supposed to last less than a month. One innovation that must not be taken for granted, blithely accepted, and finally forgotten, is the way the media elites have taken it upon themselves to shield the public from information the elites don’t think we should have. 


To be clear, no state or federal laws have been broken. The first amendment doesn’t apply to private companies. So Facebook and Twitter can delete posts and shut down accounts linking to medical professionals who stepped outside the prescribed orthodoxy on Covid-19 policy. CNN can refuse to air a political ad. The broadcast networks can all decide independently to refuse coverage of a reliably-sourced story that makes one candidate look bad, even when four years before they couldn’t hide their glee in covering a similar story with much less reliable sourcing. None of that is against the law. But it used to be that their audience would evaporate over coverage so thoroughly Anti-American. To be absolutely clear, I do not mean to imply that one political party is “American,” and the other is Anti. I mean to state flat out that interfering with the free dissemination of viable information - no matter who benefits - is unAmerican. 


We used to take for granted that the cure to bad speech was good speech. If you don’t like what someone is saying, go out, speak your mind, and convince people that you’re right. We used to compete in the marketplace of ideas. In fact, it was liberals who used to be the best at making that argument. Justice Louis Brandeis, who was appointed by Woodrow Wilson, is often credited with popularizing the counter-speech doctrine. Decades later, no less an authority than civil rights champion Thurgood Marshall authored an opinion citing the same reasoning. Certainly there is a difference between government prohibitions on speech and private censorship. But these actions raise several questions. What happened to counter-speech? And when did the so-called news outlets decide it was okay to be openly partisan? And why is anyone still watching? 


If liberals are really the bearers of truth, justice, and all that is good, why are they so afraid of conservative speech? 


Mike Davis is a Research Fellow at 1889 Institute. He can be reached at mdavis@1889institute.org. 


The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of 1889 Institute.


Popular posts from this blog

Licensing Boards Might Violate Federal Law: Regardless, They Are Terrible Policy

Competition is as American as baseball and apple pie. “May the best man win” is a sentiment so old it doesn’t care about your pronouns. The beneficial effects of competition on economic markets are well documented. So why do we let powerful business interests change the rules of the game when they tire of competing in the free market? Most of the time when an occupational license is enacted, it is the members of the regulated industry who push hardest in favor of the license. Honest competition may be fundamentally American, but thwarting that competition through licensing seems to be fundamentally Oklahoman. Oklahoma doesn’t have the most occupational licenses, but when they do license an occupation, the requirements tend to be more onerous than the same license in other states. But what if, instead of merely breaking the rules of fair play to keep out would-be competition, Oklahoma licensing boards are also breaking the law? Normally a concerted effort to lock out competition would v
Read more

Undo 802

Why is it that when conservatives suffer a major loss, they give up, accept the new status quo, and fall back to the next retreat position? When progressives suffer a major loss, they regroup and try again. And again. Until they finally wheedle the American public into giving in. I propose a change in strategy. The Oklahoma Legislature should make undoing State Question 802 its top legislative priority for 2021. This will not be an easy task (legislators seem to prefer avoiding difficult tasks) but it is a critical one. The normal legislative process, with all its pitfalls and traps for the unwary, will only bring the topic to another vote of the people. So why spend so much political capital and effort if the same result is possible? Three reasons.   First is the disastrous consequences of the policy. Forget that it enriches already-rich hospital and pharmaceutical executives. Forget that it gives the state incentives to prioritize the nearly-poor covered by expansion over the des
Read more

Oklahoma Mayors Acted Unlawfully With COVID-19 Orders

In response to COVID-19, the mayors of Oklahoma’s three largest cities subjected their citizens to draconian shelter in place orders, restricting their freedom, damaging them financially, and undermining their constitutional rights. The mayoral decrees were more restrictive than those of the Governor, and in significant ways contradicted his policy. To this day, city-mandated social distancing rules remain in place in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Norman that are not required by the state’s reopening plan. The mayors claim that where their rules are more restrictive than the state’s, the city rules apply. Was any of this unilateral mayoral activity legally valid? For the reasons examined in my paper published today, An Argument Oklahoma’s Mayors Acted Unlawfully During COVID-19 , the short answer is no. (A summary of the paper can be found here .) A close examination of relevant city ordinances and state laws governing the mayors’ COVID-19 decrees forces the conclusion tha
Read more

Higher Home Prices, Brought to You by Oklahoma's Occupational Licensing Machine

Increasingly, people across the ideological spectrum recognize the costs of occupational licensing. Almost since its inception, the 1889 Institute has highlighted several of the least justifiable licensing regimes in Oklahoma. Each individual license may seem, if not harmless , then at least only slightly harmful on its own. But the effects add up. It is estimated that licensing costs $203 billion each year, and results in up to 2.85 million fewer jobs nationwide. One of the principle ways Americans build lasting wealth is through home ownership. So a license that interferes with this process is particularly galling.  The transaction costs of buying and selling a home in Oklahoma are too high. This is not a matter of opinion, like “the price of gas is too high” or “the luxury goods I would like to own cost too much.” It is an empirical fact. The way Oklahoma regulates the Abstracting and Title Insurance industries tangibly and demonstrably impacts the cost of buying and
Read more