Four legal scholars published essays addressing the following: “What is the First Amendment status of false speech? What rules do or should apply to different kinds of false speech, like intentional lies, mistaken statements, or opinions based on falsehoods? What justifications exist for those rules? These are critically important questions to answer because the First Amendment provides the primary constraint on the government’s power to punish speakers who deceive.” The scholars deal with concerns that the lies of politicians and media outlets threaten the viability of the electoral system and our democratic system and what can be done about it. (Knight First Amendment Institute, October 19, 2022, by Katy Glenn Bass)
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