Svarbiausios žodžio laisvės ribojimo sąlygos Jungtinėse Amerikos Valstijose
The Main Conditions for Restrictions of Freedom of Speech in the United States

Summary/Abstract: Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Such provision for freedom of speech shows that this freedom plays one of the exceptional roles in the system of human rights in the Unites States of America. The significance of freedom of speech to the democracy and the Supreme Court jurisprudence provides freedom of speech with certain supremacy in comparison to other human rights. At first glance the legal regulation of the First Amendment appears to be quite clear and unambiguous. But, in reality, the application of this legal rule is very complicated. The United States has been solving the issues of freedom of speech for one hundred years already, while Europe has been dealing with these issues for just about fifty years. This justifies the importance of the United States experience in solving the problems of freedom of speech. The legal protections of the First Amendment are among the broadest as is known in the world because of the importance of the First Amendment to the democratic society and to the marketplace of ideas. The article examines the main aspects of restrictions of freedom of speech. The spread of ideas and opinions could be limited if the purpose of such limitation is information as such. Also, freedom of speech could be limited by prohibiting other acts, when the limitation of freedom of speech comes as a result of such legal regulation. Also, the object of restriction may be speech as well as actions, but the First Amendment protects only the pure speech. The main purpose in solving the issues concerning the restrictions of freedom of speech is to identify whether these restrictions fulfill the requirements of the First Amendment. The leading standard in solving these problems is the doctrine of the clear and present danger test. The First Amendment does not permit to restrict the freedom of speech except where such use of speech is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action. The other principle to restrict the use of freedom of speech is damage, which could not be avoided in the case when even more discussions about certain question could not reduce the amount of such damage. Also, if the use of freedom of speech has no social value and does not contribute to the meaningful and free spread of ideas in the society, such use of freedom of speech is not protected by the First Amendment.

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