I’ve been saying for a while that words are the most powerful thing we have. They shape our thoughts. They create connections. And they can destroy just about anything if used improperly.
There’s an assault on free speech going on right now. The cancelling of Jimmy Kimmel Live is the reason I started thinking about this today, but it goes beyond that. Earlier this week, the vice president encouraged his supporters to dox people who said things he didn’t like with the goal of getting them fired. That’s fucking insane.
The Trump administration has weaponized just about every aspect of the federal government at this point, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the FCC threatened to “take action” against Disney as a result of Kimmel’s monologue.
But here’s the thing, Kimmel didn’t say anything controversial, insensitive, or hurtful. He simply said something. And that was enough to get the show cancelled because Disney bowed down to the administration. They’re trying to spin this now, but that is exactly what happened. And that’s a dangerous precedent to set.
Here’s some more context of why the Kimmel cancellation is more than just “bad ratings”:
Kimmel has been critical of Trump for years, and Trump hates it. He said Kimmel would be next after Colbert was cancelled back in July.
Nexstar (the company that owns TV stations which first pulled the show, putting more leverage on ABC) is trying to take over another company which needs FCC approval.
Brendan Carr, the FCC chair, “urged local broadcasters to stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. Carr suggested the commission could open an investigation and that broadcasters could potentially be fined or lose their licenses if there was a pattern of distorted comments citing the public interest standard.”
At least CBS tried to hide the fact that they cancelled Colbert because that’s what the Trump administration wanted. While in reality, they needed federal approval for a merger that would make them billions of dollars so they had to ingratiate themselves in any way they could. But that’s another story.
The policing of speech only proves my point that words are the most powerful things we have. This last week has seen just about everybody weigh in on what we should or shouldn’t be able to say.
The inciting incident is hugely important, because if that shooting had instead killed three students instead of Kirk, we’d already be talking about something else. You know how I know that? There was a school shooting that day and nobody talks about it.
The second amendment is unimpeachable for the right. But apparently, the first amendment is open to interpretation. Guns are a problem in this country, but we won’t even entertain a short discussion on what we can do about it. Words, though. Words are fully targeted as a bigger problem than guns, and that fact alone should show you how powerful words actually are and why they need to be protected.
The right to freedom of speech is the first amendment, and I would argue that it’s the most important. If you’re not free to say what you want, then you’re not actually free. And of course I understand that you can have the freedom to say the most heinous shit but you’ll still be subject to social consequences. But when the government gets involved to dictate what types of speech should be met with consequences, that right to freedom of speech goes right out the window.
It’s worth noting that while people are losing their jobs for making dumb jokes, there are literal Nazis saying the most racist, vile things you can imagine. But our vice president isn’t calling for them to be doxxed. And people aren’t making Facebook posts about how they can’t stand this type of hate speech.
There are always going to be things to be angry about. People will always disagree and offend each other. And when it comes to free speech, that’s the cost of doing business. Use this phrase: “Agree to disagree.” It works wonders. But once we start to criminalize topics that we don’t like, we enter a slippery slope that only leads down and is incredibly hard to climb back up.
“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.” ― Noam Chomsky