Hi, I'm Jeff Sickinga, executive director of the Ashbrook Center, and this is the American

idea, where we discuss the ideas, people, and events that have made America what it is today.

We believe that by understanding our history and our principles, we can better

live up to the promise of the American family and preserve our ongoing experiment in self-government.

Welcome to the American Idea.

Thank you for joining us today for the American Idea. I am Kara Rogers-Stevens,

Associate Professor of History at Ashland University. Our topic today is a timely one, threats to free speech

and freedom of the press. These issues are currently being hotly debated, not only here in America, but also across the

pond. In England, in particular, speech has become increasingly regulated. Numerous individuals

have been jailed in recent months for controversial social media posts or reposts, or for actions,

such as praying silently or holding up signs, peaceful, outside

abortion clinics. And there is an ongoing debate in England among that kind of regulation of

speech and also among British politicians about the possibility of a government cover-up of

crimes that occurred in order to cover

up the race of the criminals, which was a controversial topic there. This is a cover-up that Elon Musk

famously tweeted about back in January. You might remember the firestorm over that.

Just within the last couple of weeks, Americans have begun our own fresh debate over the

limits of free speech with the Trump administration's decision to deport a former Columbia student

who is in the country on a green card. There are arguably few issues that are as important as

freedom of speech and of the press. It's always worthwhile, I think,

to discuss what constitutes speech, what is the government's role in regulating speech, what should

it be, and how does limiting speech affect the future of Republican self-government?

...