Liars: Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception

Harvard law professor Sunstein (Too Much Information) examines in this concise and well-informed account whether false speech should have any protections in a free society. Though he believes “the best response to falsehoods is usually to correct them rather than to punish or censor them,” because doing so only serves to fuel their spread, Sunstein argues that there are some circumstances where regulation is appropriate. He grounds his position in an overview of American legal history, noting that the First Amendment’s free speech protections were not generally applied to falsehoods until 2012, when the Supreme Court ruled that a federal law criminalizing false statements about receiving a military medal was unconstitutional. Sunstein also analyzes efforts by social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter to create guidelines for handling false posts, and wrestles with the question of who gets to be the arbiter of truth. Ultimately, he contends that issues such as vaccinating against Covid-19, Russian cyberattacks on the U.S., and climate change demand different legal standards when it comes to regulating “actual lies” vs. unintentional falsehoods. Policy makers and legal scholars will value this astute analysis of how to strike the proper balance between freedom and responsibility. (Mar.)