Four Versions of Free Speech—Five if You Count the Troll’s Version

The Death of Socrates

I like to think my idea of free speech is the one true version, but I know there are many competing concepts. Here are the most popular four, plus a fifth that has a very tiny but very vocal following:

1. Classic free speech: Censorship by the government (aka public censorship) and censorship by the rich (aka private censorship) are both wrong. We all should be free to speak where other people are free to speak. For example, we all should be able to rent an auditorium or publish a book or keep a blog. The main limitations: we may not deceive, we may not make credible threats of crossing the line between words and illegal deeds, and we may not force anyone to listen. Because the place where we speak is ours while we use it, we do not have to let our audience make comments or ask questions, and if we let them, we may moderate their comments to keep the discussion on topic.
2. Commercial free speech: The government’s ability to censor is limited (as it is in the United States by the First Amendment), but the people who own the means of communication may deny it to anyone they wish for any reason they wish. For example, auditorium owners may refuse to rent to speakers they don’t like, printing companies may refuse to print work by publishers they don’t like, social media companies may ban users they don’t like, etc.