Authored by Daniel Klein via The Brownstone Institute,
In the Vice-Presidential debate, the Democratic candidate Tim Walz used shouting fire in a crowded theater to justify limitations on free speech. Ironically, he resembles a man shouting fire in a crowded theater.
The history of this phrase traces to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in the 1919 Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States, in which he says it is wrong to “falsely” shout fire. The case concerned the right to protest war. Schenck was later largely overturned.
Still, the phrase has stuck.
When we think about why it is wrong to shout fire in a crowded theater, we see why Walz’s invocation makes little sense. A premise, here, is the shouter knows there is no fire and seeks to cause a panic.
Imagine it. You are in a movie theater and a man in the row in front of you starts shouting “Fire!”
Most likely you would assume that the shouter is a troublesome soul, since you see no smoke and no flames. Today, when fire alarms go off in a school or office building, do we panic? We are used to false alarms, even when it comes to the hazard of fire.
Even if the shouter succeeds in causing a panic, think about how that panic occurs. A few theatergoers become alarmed and rush for the door. Others see others panicking, and that impels them to panic. Those panickers have little time to ask, Is there a real danger?
The shouter’s action violates the contract he made with the theater. Ethically, his action is wrong, as it is bad to lie and it is bad to disrupt the show and cause a panic.
Does the shouter’s action resemble the activity that Walz would censor? Whether it be public health claims or political claims, the resemblance is slight.
In some ways, Walz resembles the man who shouts fire in a crowded theater. Claiming a great danger, he incites people to fall in with a political program.
But, having heard the shouting - “Save democracy!”, “Hammer disinformation out of existence!”—we have some time to consult, discuss, and reflect, using our capacious moral and intellectual faculties.
Nothing confesses untruthfulness like censorship.