To amend what has been First amended

re: "Have Trump’s Lies Wrecked Free Speech?" (The New York Times, January 6, 2021)

 
Perhaps to defeat the likes of the Great Faker, now become the Great Loser, what is needed is some faith in human beings, that however deluded, they can be tempted to the light by reason and evidence. That requires not limitations on what may be said, however vile, but an encouragement to ever greater questioning of all that is deemed sacred, starting with the self-adulating goddesses and gods who have the nasty habit of preaching their own infallibility - a sick joke if ever there was one in dire need of being called out.

In his paper, Wu also makes the important point that protection of free speech requires not only that the state not interfere to repress ideas, however truly vile, but that it actively prevent "harassment of speakers." In other words, greater efforts could be made to prevent the egregious cancel culture habit of the well-intentioned using protests or other means to silence the voices of others. Perhaps what is needed is needed is amendment so that the law is required to, and requires institutions to, take steps to ensure that voices some vocal minority, or massive majority, hate with good reason, at least in their own minds, not be silenced by violent or loud protests at universities or other places: ensure safe spaces for the vile.

And parents might remind their children that it is good manners to respectfully hear out even ideas you find not only false but repugnant: listening and responding firmly to what is said is also more likely to change minds.
 

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The above comment was submitted by Felix Qui to The New York Times article.

It is published there at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/opinion/trump-lies-free-speech.html#commentsContainer&permid=110927433:110927433