Free speech is a cultural, not political, phenomenon

Published February 10, 2021 10:30am ET



Harvard students have been petitioning to strip degrees from alumni who were involved with the Trump administration. When Pete Hegseth of Fox News brought up the alumni’s First Amendment right to free speech, one student noted that the First Amendment only provides protection against the government throttling speech.

That’s true. But free speech is about much more than the First Amendment. Free speech is ultimately a cultural phenomenon.

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