free speech
noun
: speech that is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
also
: the right to such speech
an unconstitutional restraint on free speech —
Nat'l Law Jour.
Nat'l Law Jour. Examples of free speech in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The upshot is that a significant number of students and faculty have come to regard it as a tool of censorship rather than a guarantor of free speech.
—Jamie Kalven, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025
But despite housing the fest for four decades, Utah isn’t a bastion of free speech, with the state being one of the first to implement a statewide ban for more than a dozen books in libraries and classrooms.
—Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2025
Rights groups and legal scholars said the new measure would violate constitutional free speech rights and would likely draw legal challenges.
—Andrea Shalal, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2025
Providers tend to cry slippery slope and the end of free speech at any carve-out to their Section 230 freedom, which courts have mostly respected.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025
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Jamie Kalven, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025
But despite housing the fest for four decades, Utah isn’t a bastion of free speech, with the state being one of the first to implement a statewide ban for more than a dozen books in libraries and classrooms.
—Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2025
Rights groups and legal scholars said the new measure would violate constitutional free speech rights and would likely draw legal challenges.
—Andrea Shalal, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2025
Providers tend to cry slippery slope and the end of free speech at any carve-out to their Section 230 freedom, which courts have mostly respected.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for free speech
Dictionary Entries Near free speech
Cite this Entry
“Free speech.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20speech. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
free speech
noun1
: speech that is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
setting off an alarm bell is not free speech—A. M. Dershowitz
A. M. Dershowitz2
: freedom of speech
an unconstitutional restraint on free speech—National Law Journal
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