Criminal speech is a legal concept that identifies certain kinds of speech as a crime. The concept is somewhat at odds with freedom of speech in its broadest sense, within the broader freedom of expression, and asserts certain limitations on such freedom.
Concepts like criticism of government and criticism of royalty are controversial. Other concepts limiting certain kinds of speech are not, such as that which prohibits shouting fire in a crowded theater (as a practical joke, and not as a warning), as such speech has the potential to cause harm.
Laws vary by country according with the legal principles that such country adheres to. Most speech is unregulated, and does not violate law. In reference to authoritarian governments which assert serious controls, such controls are commonly called suppression of dissent. In democracies, the concept of hate speech has emerged in recent years, to counteract the political and social influence of hate groups.
Famous quotes containing the words criminal and/or speech:
“If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It’s the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones, the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle. Conspirators have a logic and a daring beyond our reach. All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who find coherence in some criminal act.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)
“A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart.”
—Peggy Noonan (b. 1950)