In June 1973 in Miller v. California, the Supreme Court held in a 5-to-4 decision that obscene materials do not enjoy First Amendment protection.

The Supreme Court reaffirmed this position in its 1997 decision on the Communications Decency Act (CDA) that sought to limit material placed on the Internet

And I wont even got into the patriot act!

Lets just say that CIA, FBI, DEA, and the White House are probably reading this as I type it out. They are also listening to my phone conversations, reading my emails, and monitoring my assigned IP to compile data on my internet viewing. Unbelievable!

SO THE ANSWER IS YES YES YES!

My rights and your rights to free speech are unequivocally being eroded day by day and terrorist attack by terrorist attack. You simply cant deny this, THIS is fact.

1984, HERE WE COME!!!

however, my point about some level of regulation is that it tempers focused and directed hate speech that is designed to influence a society. you, matt, may be mature enough to laugh and tune it out, but there are 100s of others who are more easily swayed.

Here is a small recap of the raping of free speech rights in America over the last 100 years. (This is only a SMALL recap; I don’t have time to put out a 1000 page essay for you)

Congress, concerned by an increase in social upheaval as well as the advent of World War I, passed first the Espionage Act in 1917 and then a second Sedition Act the following year. The Espionage Act made it illegal “to willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States” or to foster disloyalty within the armed services ranks.
Four-time Socialist candidate for president Eugene Debs was convicted in 1918 of hindering enlistment, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Journalist H.L. Mencken was tossed behind bars in 1926 after censorship groups in Boston declared that his periodical American Mercury, a journal of scathing criticisms of American culture, was obscene

Smith Act in 1940. The Smith Act made it a crime to “advocate, abet, advise, or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government of the United States by force of violence.”
The “clear and present danger” test was used bu the U.S Government in determining when speech could become criminal in 1957, when it required proof that the speaker was advocating potentially violent activity, and again in 1969.
This act quickly came under fire as unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court supported it, arguing the government had the right to repress free speech in time of “national emergency.”

Whether an investigation conducted under the aegis of state legislature to determine whether a professor was a “subversive person” in the State and including asking him for the contents of a lecture he gave at the State University and his knowledge of the Progressive Party violated the First Amendment.
Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957)

In June 1973 in Miller v. California, the Supreme Court held in a 5-to-4 decision that obscene materials do not enjoy First Amendment protection.

The Supreme Court reaffirmed this position in its 1997 decision on the Communications Decency Act (CDA) that sought to limit material placed on the Internet

And I wont even got into the patriot act!

Lets just say that CIA, FBI, DEA, and the White House are probably reading this as I type it out. They are also listening to my phone conversations, reading my emails, and monitoring my assigned IP to compile data on my internet viewing. Unbelievable!

SO THE ANSWER IS YES YES YES!

My rights and your rights to free speech are unequivocally being eroded day by day and terrorist attack by terrorist attack. You simply cant deny this, THIS is fact.

1984, HERE WE COME!!!

My “gut” sadly has no brain so it’s not worth thinking with.

If you remove yourself from this convoluted constitutional babble that will only lead you in circles and look at the REAL issues with free speech/censorship you will come to the same conclusion as the ACLU:

“To permit the continued building of our politics and culture, and to assure self-fulfillment for each individual, our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship. The essence of this forbidden censorship is content control. ANY RESTRICTION ON EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITY BECAUSE OF ITS CONTENT WOULD COMPLETELY UNDERCUT THE PROFOUND NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE PRINCIPLE THAT DEBATE ON PUBLIC ISSUES SHOULD BE UNINHIBITED, ROBUST, AND WIDE-OPEN.”

It is simply a backwards, obsolete, old-world, ignorant idea to limit free speech in any way. It will only lead to the erosion of speech and other rights in America and the rest of the world. This will lead (I believe) to a world of big brother and surveillance at all times. It’s like a snowball rolling down hill, you cant stop it once it starts and it only gets bigger as it goes.

To answer your queries:

Q:
Are people more regulated and saying less today, than they did in 1900?

A:
Yes without a doubt. Now, unless you have a huge bankroll to fund your inevitable legal battles, you’re silenced. Freedom of the dollar at work. (Read on)

Q:
Have you seen a perpetual restriction of speech that has led to erosion of freedoms over time?

A:
Yes, without a doubt. Pick up a fucking American history book yourself smartass.