Opinion: A judge prevents government from responding to misinformation on the internet. That has Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and others concerned.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes will appeal a ruling that blocks government from flagging content on social media.
EJ Montini
Arizona Republic
At some point you’ve probably heard someone say freedom of speech doesn’t mean you get to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater.
Actually, it sort of does.
That whole fire/theater thing goes back to a Supreme Court case from more than 100 years go. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote in an opinion that “the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.”
That wasn’t the specific issue being decided in the case, however.
So, technically, it’s not against the law.
Spreading misinformation isn’t illegal
If a person does such a thing and people are injured as a result, there might be other legal consequences. But the yelling alone is no crime.
Neither is spreading BS on the internet.
People can be harmed by that as well. There are scams of all sorts. Misinformation. Outright lies on everything from health care to elections.
