So, what the devil is free speech? While it seems to be all we ever talk about these days, saying what we wanna say how and whenever we bloody well feel like has been a point of contention for centuries. Freedom itself is a concept championed by much of our world as the pinnacle of Humanity and the Human Individual. An ancient idea brought to the forefront of the western zeitgeist around the Age of Enlightenment, free will and the inalienable right to exercise it has become the central philosophy for America in particular. We are the “Land of the Free,” after all, and the very first amendment of our constitution is Freedom of Speech. As to what the First Amendment means to me, the answer is two-fold.

Firstly, I believe that the First Amendment means exactly what it says it means:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”

Secondly, I believe that the Freedom of Speech—and, by extension, Freedom of Expression—is meant to work in tandem with something known as the Harm Principle.

Explained in John Stuart Mill’s "On Liberty," the Harm Principle argues that:

“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized communiy, against his will, is to prevent harm to others”

Essentially, Free Speech and Free Expression gives license to the individual to say, believe and do absolutely anything that could possibly cross their fancy so long as they do not infringe upon another’s ability to do the same. This is also the baseline of the idea known as Social Contract; in order to maintain society, one pledges to give up certain aspects of freedom in the hopes that all others in society will do the same. One person murdering another certainly infringes upon the dead person’s ability to do the things that they want and so is considered Harm.

The Harm Principle is in many ways the perfect philosophy by which Justice is balanced with Freedom. Though it does require a human element to draw the line in the sand as to what is and is not necessarily harmful behaviour to oneself and others, justice after all is built to serve humans.

Justice is best served when modeled after a well crafted sword. It should be of a material that will not easily break, yet it should and must be able to bend and flex in its use, elsewise its own rigidness will be its wielder’s undoing. And it is with such a supple sword of justice that we can protect our freedom of speech and expression most valiantly.