Title: Free Speech Isn't Free - The Atlantic
Headings: Free Speech Isn't Free
Politics
Free Speech Isn't Free

Content: Why should speech be exempt from public welfare concerns when its social costs can be even more injurious [than that of physical injury]?" I believe—strongly—in the free-speech system we have. But most of the responses to Rosenbaum leave me uneasy. I think defenders of free speech need to face two facts: First, the American system of free speech is not the only one; most advanced democracies maintain relatively open societies under a different set of rules. Second, our system isn't cost-free. Repressing speech has costs, but so does allowing it. The only mature way to judge the system is to look at both sides of the ledger. Recommended Reading
Jonathan Rauch: