Townhall
Fightin' Words
by Kevin Glass
Sep 28, 2013

In 2009, Democrat Rep. Linda Sanchez of California introduced the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, a piece of legislation designed to protect children from online harassment but which, in reality, had more sinister consequences. The legislation would have criminalized speech that could “cause substantial emotional distress to a person” through different means of communication, including but not limited to “e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones and text messages.” Fortunately, the bill never made it out of the House.

It’s easy to see how giving law enforcement the authority to crack down on communication that merely causes emotional distress would be scary. Substantial emotional distress is a very subjective concept, and the American culture of victimhood is strong.

Protection for free speech in America is also strong, however. And, it turns out, uniquely American. Developed nations around the world have very strong speech codes that, in recent years, have targeted particularly expressive citizens with increasing frequency. Western Europe is home to some of the strongest speech codes in the world, and for other outrageous examples, America could merely look to its northern neighbor—Canada has had what it calls the “Human Rights Commission,” charged with protecting civil rights and ferreting out hate speech.

Americans should be proud of their long heritage of valuing free speech. They won’t be arrested for insulting, voluntarily or involuntarily, their fellow citizens. They enjoy this freedom more than their contemporaries in other liberal democracies, yet it’s a freedom that requires the utmost vigilance to maintain. While there are movements in other countries to repeal some of the most egregious violations of freedom of speech, there are those within the U.S. who prefer to sacrifice speech on the altar of political correctness.

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