{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "The meme that freedom of speech only exists as a protection against the government\u2026 as recently as 5 years ago you\u2019d see it...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/70436589793/", "html": "<p>The meme that freedom of speech only exists as a protection against the government\u2026 as recently as 5 years ago you\u2019d see it voiced as that the First Amendment only applies against the government, which is at least true. </p>\n\n<p>If you press one of the memevectors on it today they\u2019ll usually fall back to this, revealing an understanding of the two as coextensive when in fact the First Amendment is merely the enshrining of the prior principle as an imperative of law.</p>\n\n<p>The censorious types aren\u2019t breaking a law or violating the constitution, they\u2019re being unamerican. As always, the distinction between the United States and America should be observed.</p>"}