A peculiar and noteworthy feature of our cultural conversations around the subject of free speech is their narrow focus upon the non-proscription of expression. If we were to employ Isaiah Berlin’s taxonomy, we could say that these conversations have framed free speech as a ‘negative liberty’, as freedom from coercion or external constraints upon our speech. Our free speech causes célèbres are typically cases where someone’s right to expression of their viewpoint has been unjustly curtailed by some force or threat, often within an institutional context.
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