Free Speech and Free Action

Free Speech and Free Action Freedom of speech differs from freedom of action. But speech and action are so closely interwoven in human behavior that it's not always immediately obvious which is which. Thus it's not surprising that we often criminalize speech as well as, or even instead of, the action that it accompanies. This is a mistake. Consider, for example, the apocryphal "snuff" movie. (I say apocryphal because, in my years of anti-censorship activism, …

…unless the speech is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action." Limiting freedom of action is clearly not an exception to the First Amendment. Endless debate is possible, of course, over what constitutes speech. Some conservatives, for example, believe that images have no First Amendment protection. I personally believe that individual freedom should be maximized and that speech must be interpreted as broadly as possible.