What 5 types of speech are not protected by the First Amendment?

Asked by: Emilio Schmeler  |  Last update: November 26, 2025
Score: 4.5/5 (47 votes)

The Court generally identifies these categories as obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, fighting words, true threats, speech integral to criminal conduct, and child pornography. The contours of these categories have changed over time, with many having been significantly narrowed by the Court.

What are 5 things that are not protected from the First Amendment?

Which types of speech are not protected by the First Amendment?
  • Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action. The First Amendment does not protect speech that incites people to break the law, including to commit acts of violence. ...
  • Fighting Words. ...
  • True Threats. ...
  • Obscenity. ...
  • Defamation. ...
  • Harassment. ...
  • Material and Substantial Disruption.

What type of speech and press is not protected in Amendment 1?

The categories of unprotected speech include obscenity, child pornography, defamatory speech, false advertising, true threats, and fighting words. Deciding what is and is not protected speech is reserved to courts of law.

Which form of speech is not at all covered by the First Amendment?

The First Amendment does not protect speech that is intended to incite listeners to imminent lawless action. This kind of speech is a direct call to commit immediate, lawless action. The speaker must expect that the speech will in fact lead to lawless action.

What are the 7 limitations of freedom of speech?

The main such categories are incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats.

Freedom of Speech Exceptions: Categories of Speech NOT Protected

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What are 5 instances where freedom of speech is limited?

Categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment (and therefore may be restricted) include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, false ...

What speech isn't protected?

The following speech may not be protected: Speech that is intended and likely to provoke imminent unlawful action (“incitement”). Statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals (“true threats”).

Which is not included in the 1st Amendment?

The First Amendment protects protest, but not civil disobedience. The First Amendment covers all forms of communication and symbolic actions that express a viewpoint, including art, clothing, and protests. But the First Amendment does not protect acts of civil disobedience in which people break the law.

Is profanity protected speech?

The Court has held that unless “fighting words” are involved, profane language has First Amendment protection. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942). The concern with First Amendment protection for the use of profanity is particularly pronounced for political speech.

What qualifies as fighting words?

Fighting words are defined as words “which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.” As the Supreme Court explained in Chaplinsky, “[s]uch utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any ...

What kind of speech is not protected in schools?

However, speech that is obscene, libelous, or slanderous; or that so incites students that it creates a clear and present danger of unlawful acts on school premises, violations of school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school, is prohibited.

Is verbal abuse protected by the First Amendment?

The federal courts have found increasingly severe verbal abuse to be protected speech. The First Amendment generally protects the right to free speech, but that right is subject to limitations. Threats, fraudulent speech, and obscenity are not protected.

What types of speech does the First Amendment not protect quizlet?

any form of expression: can be spoken, written, artistic, etc. What types of speech are NOT protected by the 1st Amendment? obscenity, defamation, libel, slander, fighting words, and inciting violence.

What 5 rights Cannot be denied in the 1st Amendment?

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Are racial slurs free speech?

Although the racial slur is extremely offensive, it doesn't fall into one of the categories of unprotected speech identified by the U.S. Supreme Court.

What are the 5 protections of the First Amendment?

Apply landmark Supreme Court cases to contemporary scenarios related to the five pillars of the First Amendment and your rights to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Can you yell curse words in public?

Generally, cursing in public is not an illegal offense. However, there are some instances where you still could be charged with disorderly conduct when cursing. This includes: If your language incites violence.

What are the limits to free speech?

Freedom of speech does not include the right:

To incite imminent lawless action. Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969). To make or distribute obscene materials.

Is it illegal to cuss in front of a child?

From my understanding from other cases swearing in public is protected by the first amendment, to be considered disorderly conduct the language needs to incite violence.

What speech isn't protected by the First Amendment?

Incitement — speech that is both “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action” — is unprotected by the First Amendment. The standard comes from the Supreme Court's 1969 decision in Brandenburg v.

What types of things aren t protected by the First Amendment?

The right to freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Most categories of speech are “protected” to some extent by the First Amendment, but there are exceptions, including things like incitement, true threats, defamation, obscenity, fraud, and others.

Is burning a draft card protected speech?

O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968) Since the government has an important interest in an effective draft system, the First Amendment does not void a law against burning draft cards, especially since the act of burning a draft card does not implicate a substantial speech interest.

Is harassment free speech?

To summarize, merely offensive harassing speech is protected speech. Speech that rises to the level of discriminatory harassment is not protected speech. Examples of such speech are rare and unusual.

Are fighting words protected by the First Amendment?

Fighting Words

In 1942, the Court unanimously decided in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire that the First Amendment doesn't protect fighting words.

What are the five parts of the 5th Amendment?

The Fifth Amendment breaks down into five rights or protections:
  • The right to indictment by grand jury.
  • Protection against double jeopardy.
  • Protection against self-incrimination.
  • The right to due process of law.
  • Protection against the taking of property by the federal or state government without compensation.