But FIRE, which has been such an important actor in fighting digital censorship, is doing the right thing. In the name of trying to protect the country, the Trump administration is advertising to the world its misunderstanding of a core American idea. It’s a mess:

The First Amendment doesn’t delineate who does and doesn’t qualify for protection. It just lays out that what people say or think isn’t this or any government’s business.

“Madison and Jefferson wrote that opinions are not within the purview of the government,” says Fitzpatrick. “The whole idea behind the First Amendment is it deprives the government of authority to wield its power based on the opinions of the speaker.”