Opening page…
Should any speech be banned?
Free speech is easy to defend for words you like. Any line you draw will one day be enforced by people who disagree with you.
Your answer
You’ll sign in or make an account, then this is kept as your answer.
A little context
Everyone has words they would be glad never to hear again: a slur, a lie about someone they love, instructions for something terrible. The question isn't whether those words do harm. It's whether anyone should have the power to stop them, knowing that someone you disagree with will one day hold that power.
Nearby questions
- Are people basically good?Mencius said anyone who saw a child about to fall into a well would feel a jolt of alarm. Xunzi answered that people are born selfish and only learn to be good. Answer from what you've seen people do when nobody was making them.
- Does anyone deserve to suffer?Imagine that punishing someone guilty would deter nobody, protect nobody and change nothing. Many people still feel it should happen.
- Born on the other sideWhat gives you a stronger claim to a safe, prosperous country than someone born just across its border?
- Is it ever right to break the law?Rosa Parks broke a law and is remembered as a hero. Plenty of people who break laws believe they are right too.
- Write the rules, then be bornYou must design society before finding out whether you will be rich or poor, healthy or ill, powerful or ignored. Which rules would you refuse to leave to luck?
