The New York Times is wrong to attack the First Amendment

Those of us who defend freedom of speech have unfortunately become used to hysterical headlines from the New York Times decrying the problem of the First Amendment.

Some of these headlines rely on straw man arguments to make their case, such as “Free Speech Is Killing Us” by Andrew Marantz in 2019. And who could forget Ulrich Baer’s 2017 article, “What ‘Snowflakes’ Get Right About Free Speech”, which argued that people who agree with him should have more control over speech on campus? (Perhaps the least surprising position a university administrator has ever taken.) Or Lisa Feldman Barrett’s 2017 article, “When Is Speech Violence?”, which argues that speech can become violence when it’s… stressful? If that’s the case, then what’s the First Amendment for?