Freedom of Speech and Society: A Social Approach to Freedom of Ex ...

prevent a citizen from criticising a government’s conduct of a war. In this case, the distinction may be that the former involves an action that clearly and immediately risks harm and injury to others while the latter is more properly part of democratic government and does not involve the certainty of injury to other members of society. While the distinctions are frequently difficult, the result is that freedom of speech has always been limited to some extent. Some of the recognised exceptions to guarantees of freedom of speech where there may be extensive government or legal regulation include:

With so many exceptions, it is difficult to acknowledge speech as being free except to say that many societies claim to encourage free speech but invariably restrict speech in numerous ways. In the United States, free speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment and the exceptions have to be justifiable in light of the constitutional right. While the First Amendment