Page 187 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

1 | Government Censorsh p and Freedom of Speech

every military conflict, we passed laws or set up policies designed to curtail free
speech.
During the Cold War in the 1950s, the McCarthy era was a particularly dark
time for free speech in America, when anyone who showed any signs of sup-
porting dissent was branded a “communist.” In the 1960s, opponents to the Viet-
nam War were dismissed as radicals, and people who burned flags or draft cards
in protest were sent to jail. In an attempt to suppress growing criticism of our
involvement in Vietnam, the Nixon administration tried to stop both the New
York Times and the Washington Post from publishing excerpts from the Penta-
gon Papers, a military history of the Vietnam conflict (New York Times v. United
States and United States v. Washington Post, 403 U.S. 713 (1971)). In the wake of
Vietnam, the government placed strict limits on media access to military activity
in the Persian Gulf, in an attempt to limit negative press coverage. Following the
events of September 11, 2001, Congress adopted the Patriot Act, which among
other things created a broad definition of “terrorist,” including dissident groups—
allowing for the arrest of Americans exercising their First Amendment rights to
peacefully protest government policy. While the government often claims that
some sacrifice of free speech must be made during wartime in the interests of
national security, critics and constitutional lawyers often argue, in response, that
such wartime censorship protects the government from criticism, not external
enemies. As our nation grapples with new foreign and domestic military chal-
lenges in the early twenty-first century, we continue to struggle with the ongoing
question of how to balance individual liberty with national security.

tiMeline: soMe key MoMents in the history oF
FreedoM oF sPeeCh in aMeriCa
1791—Bill of Rights added to the U.S. Constitution, including the First Amendment.
1798—Alien and Sedition Act: first official exception to the First Amendment.
1842—Congress passes first anti-obscenity statute.
1861– 65—U.S. Civil War: freedom of speech suppressed on both sides of the conflict.
1873—Comstock Act adopted, barring the use of the U.S. postal system for the distribu-
tion of obscene material.
1915—Supreme Court rules that the medium of cinema is not protected under the First
Amendment.
1918—Espionage Act amended to include strict sedition laws. Over 2,000 prosecuted for
dissent against American involvement in World War One.
1919—Schenk v. U.S.: “Clear and Present Danger” test is born.
1934—Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is established, marking the start of
federal regulation of broadcasting.
1940—The Smith Act passed by Congress prior to U.S. entry into World War II. Used as
the basis for silencing those accused of communism during the McCarthy era.
1952—Burstyn v. Wilson: Supreme Court reverses earlier decision, granting First Amend-
ment protection to film.