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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
“There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech and especially around our democracy.”

Yes, there is. It’s called the First Amendment.

You might’ve heard the words “misinformation” and “disinformation” thrown around by political figures from the left, right, and center.

This viral clip from 2023 features Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for Vice President, talking about misinformation.

But sadly, calls to censor “misinformation” and “disinformation” are bipartisan these days.

But the answer isn’t censorship — it’s more speech.

In a liberal democracy, there’s only one solution to the problems of “misinformation” and “disinformation”: judging the truth for ourselves.

An informed citizenry that can separate fact from fiction without the heavy hand of government regulation is what separates democracy from dictatorship.

Because the alternative is to trust the government to decide the truth for us.

And FIRE data shows Americans don’t want that.

The third installment of FIRE’s National Speech Index found that roughly six out of ten Democrats, Republicans, and independents do not trust the government “at all” to decide what speech is hateful or false.

Each day, the American people face the all-important task of perpetuating self-government through reflection, debate, and choice.

Free speech is the most effective tool we have at our disposal to inform ourselves.

If the government obtains the power to suppress protected speech as “hateful” or “misinformation,” make no mistake: that power will be abused.

Nobody — not Democrats, not Republicans, and not independents — will be safe from censorship.

As we’ve said before, free speech makes free people.

The freer the speech, the freer the people.