American Government / Unit 3 Gov 108 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Unprotected Speech
Captions available
The idea
Some categories of speech receive no First Amendment protection, including incitement to imminent lawless action, true threats, obscenity, and defamation.
In practice
A speech urging an immediate riot can be punished; a speech urging a policy cannot.
Where people slip
The categories are narrow and court-defined — "offensive" is not one of them.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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