Is blatantly false information “protected speech” under the US Constitution? That question is in the Courts at this very moment. Here is a nice article discussing the issue.
Koch-Funded Litigation Group Fights to Protect Covid Misinformation - EXPOSEDbyCMD
Personally, I believe there are limits to freedom of speech. One cannot scream “fire” in a crowded theater intentionally to provoke a panic in which people are trampled to death and escape liability by hiding under the first amendment.
Yet that is what antivaxxers have done. Using the power of their MD licenses and a national podium provided to them by politicians seeking leverage antivaxx anxiety, these fake “experts” spread blatant misinformation clearly to frighten people about vaccination. It worked. It has been well established that upwards of 300,000 Americans died unnecessarily as a result of refusal to be vaccinated.
Does 1A protect all speech? How about when speech becomes a public health threat?
Can a doctor go on Fox News and urge people not to be treated for Rabies or Tuberculosis or Syphilis or Meningitis and claim it’s their constitutional right? I don’t think so. I don’t believe that is the speech the Founders were trying to protect.
What say you?
You should read this; you might learn something: https://jessicar.substack.com/p/the-relevance-of-underimmunization
Question: is this good medical practice: https://bailiwicknews.substack.com/p/on-the-significance-of-21-usc-360bbb ? And to stay on topic: would you rather the uncomfortable fact be supressed that certified Good Manufacturing Practice, certified Good Laboratory Practice, certified Good Distribution Practice and labeling and dispensing laws were all suspended for the Covid jabs?