Donald Trump and the limits of free speech

Is Donald Trump’s expulsion from Twitter an attack on free speech? A great many Republicans are saying so. You certainly can call it ‘deplatforming’: when you lose your speaking invite, your social media posting rights or your book deal. Josh Hawley, a Republican Senator, has claimed that his First Amendment rights were violated by Simon & Schuster when they decided not to publish his book. It’s a problematic definition, since it means that Simon & Schuster are also violating my free speech by not publishing my books. And in fact, the rights of most aspiring authors on the planet.

But of course, the First Amendment expressly refers to laws made by Congress abridging the freedom of speech. It stops the government from punishing people for their opinions. It does not mean that Simon & Schuster or Twitter – or The Spectator – has an obligation to publish them. And that’s how free speech has usually been seen in the Western Enlightenment tradition, as one of our human rights that are upheld when we abstain from interfering in the lives of others.