Questions about what Americans can say, where they can say it, and what the consequences may be have shaped several major moments in recent years. That has led some people to reconsider what free speech really looks like today.
Although the First Amendment protects freedom of expression from government interference, it remains one of the most misunderstood rights in the United States.
For journalists like NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, access has become the battleground.
Bowman has spent decades covering the Pentagon. For him, free speech has always centered on the ability to hold the powerful accountable.
“We’re not there to just parrot what the government says,” Bowman said. “We’re there to ask questions.”
Recently, dozens of Pentagon correspondents turned in their press passes rather than accept new restrictions from the Defense Department that would limit interview subjects and issues.
For Bowman, the moment signaled a troubling shift.
“It doesn’t help the government,” he said. “It doesn’t help the press. And it certainly doesn’t help the American people who are trying to find out what’s going on.”
Legal experts say it goes deeper than access.
Stephen Wermiel, professor of practice at American University’s Washington College of Law, says the challenges surrounding free speech today reflect far more than press limitations.
“We’re deeply divided as a nation about what we think is the speech that should be protected,” Wermiel said.
The divide has led to real consequences nationwide. A few months ago, educators and journalists were disciplined or fired for social media posts related to the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“The First Amendment only protects against government censorship,” Wermiel said. “Private employers are not bound by the First Amendment.”
For the new generation of journalists, the digital landscape adds new pressures. The issue feels different, the concern isn’t only what can be said but how long those words might follow online.
“I feel like that as a journalist is just something to always be aware of,” said Gabriela Danger, opinion editor for PantherNow, FIU’s student run newspaper. “But even more so in the digital age because of the way information spreads now.”
Danger says she’s seen it before, including back at her private high school, where administrators limited what could appear in the school paper.
“I went to a Catholic high school; it was very easy to be censored there,” she said. “I was publishing really innocent things like movie reviews, and even those would sometimes be censored.”
Now in college, she says the meaning of free speech feels different. It’s less about saying anything and more about saying it responsibly.
“There’s a lot of editing that needs to be done just to make sure that you have the right story,” she said.
The pressure is being felt by Americans too.
A recent survey by the Foundation For Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) found that 74% of Americans believe free speech is heading in the wrong direction.
The organization has urged the public to stay engaged, speak out and advocate for free speech rights.
