General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Can We Stop Saying "Pam Geller Has Free Speech?" [View all]itcfish
(1,828 posts)The main exceptions to free speech protection include:
1. Defamation (includes libel and slander): discussed in greater depth below.
2. Obscenity: The Supreme Court test for obscenity is as follows: (a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
3. Fighting words: As defined by the Supreme Court, fighting words are "those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."
4. Causing panic: The classic example of speech causing panic is someone yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater. Speech may be suppressed where a reasonable person would know that his speech is likely to cause panic and/or harm to others.
5. Incitement to crime: Speech that spurs another to commit a crime.
Sedition: Speech that advocates unlawful conduct against the government or the violent overthrow of the government.
The government also has the right to restrict speech in order to promote a "compelling government interest," such as national security. This standard is extraordinarily strict and hard to prove, making it a rather narrow exception to free speech
https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/free-speech-primer-what-can-you-say