Restoring Freedom of Speech And Ending Federal Censorship
Return to Constitutional Free Speech
The federal government’s powers are limited by the United States Constitution. We have watched the federal government abuse its power by taking unconstitutional actions, using powers not granted it by the Constitution.
This abuse of power has been so ubiquitous that listing them, to me, seemed an impossible task.
I became curious about President Trump’s executive orders. Are they constitutional? I am going to attempt to find the text of the new executive orders, share them, and evaluate them.
The first is the restoration of freedom of speech. Here is the text of the executive order.
…Section 1. Purpose. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference. Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve. Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: (a) secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech;
(b) ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen;
(c) ensure that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; and
(d) identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.
Sec. 3. Ending Censorship of Protected Speech. (a) No Federal department, agency, entity, officer, employee, or agent may act or use any Federal resources in a manner contrary to section 2 of this order.
(b) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report…
THE WHITE HOUSE, January 20, 2025
The Federalist Papers don’t say anything about Freedom of Speech. However, they have a short argument about Freedom of the Press (footnote in Paper 84), which seems relevant to President Trump’s executive order.
The power of taxation has been used to show there is a constitutional power to affect liberty of the press. It is said that high taxes could be the same as a prohibition…Some State constitutions declare liberty of the press. Yet they can use taxation to limit freedom of the press. The same thing can happen under the proposed Constitution…—Publius [Federalist Paper #84]
This seems to make it very clear that the government should not be influencing speech or press, which is the theme and meaning behind President Trump’s executive order.