Speech History Lesson

How the left and the right switched ides on free speech:

Back in the '70s, '80s, or '90s, if there was a Free Speech debate, conservatives were usually on the side of censorship. Not always (and naturally, there were exceptions — prominently among them Al Gore’s wife), but during most of these conflicts, it was the Republicans who were lobbying private companies, government agencies, or advertisers to block certain people or ideas from the airwaves. And it was a target-rich environment. There were campaigns against rockers who were suspected of worshiping the Devil (corrupting young minds with secret, backward messages). There were efforts to ban comedy routines. Hollywood movies (including Starlord’s favorite film, “Footloose”) frequently pitted stodgy old conservatives against free-speaking kids. There were boycotts against radio “shock jocks” for making vulgar jokes. There were pressure campaigns against the sellers and distributors of rap music. Who can forget conservative icon Charleton Heston reciting gangsta rap lyrics, to shame Time Warner shareholders? And each time, the cultural narrative was the same: Liberals supported free expression, while conservatives were the ones covering their eyes and plugging their ears while trying to force everyone else to do the same. .... It’s only when their media monopoly began to collapse that liberals turned their backs on Free Speech. First, they tried to ban Rush Limbaugh with “Hush Rush” legislation, and then they launched boycotts of his sponsors. Sure, the ACLU would still do performative Free Speech work, such as protecting the rights of Nazis to hold public rallies (yay?), but when it came to actions that actually affected mainstream political discourse, it fled from the battlefield. (It’s interesting: The ACLU was uncompromisingly absolutist on the First Amendment but entirely indifferent on the Second. Guess not all civil liberties were created equal, eh?) Their Free Speech façade was fading by the mid-'90s, but it wasn’t until the Internet exploded that the liberals turned wholesale against free expression. Websites like the Drudge Report were one thing; the absolute final straw was social media. Suddenly, anyone could say anything about anyone, and there was nothing you could do to stop them. At long last, conservatives had a seat at the media table, too. We could even create our own media (cough, PJ Media, cough)! And now, if a major media outlet like CBS wanted to run a news segment with something like, oh, I don’t know, ridiculously fake military documents right before a presidential election, the power of conservative media could hold its feet to the fire — and get Dan Rather fired. Before the Internet, the problem was scarcity. But now? According to liberals, the new problem is abundance: There’s too much noise! Too much misinformation! Too many voices! (Not to mention the WRONG voices.) Sadly, it never was the case that liberals supported Free Speech. They just supported liberal speech. Always have.

And unfortunately still do...