The Right Is Using Charlie Kirk’s Murder to Attack Free Speech
Over the past week since the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, we’ve watched conservatives unabashedly take ownership of “cancel culture” and crack down on free speech right before our eyes.
In the days following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, several major corporations have fired or suspended employees for social media comments deemed inappropriate or mocking of his death. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
In the last week, American conservatives have dropped their professed commitment to free speech over the previous decade.
“There’s free speech, and then there’s hate speech,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday in response to a podcast host’s question about public reactions to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. “And there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie,” for the latter. “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
As she should know, hate speech is not a legal category of speech in the United States. Our legal system prohibits incitements to immediate violence and other narrow infractions, but “hate speech” is a fungible term that has always put free-speech advocates on high alert for politically motivated censorship.
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