American Civil Liberties Union

The following viewpoint is excerpted from a position paper on freedom of expression by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the nation’s oldest and largest civil liberties organization. The ACLU argues that the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and freedom of the press apply to the creation of motion pictures, television shows, music lyrics, and other forms of art and entertainment. Government laws aimed at regulating media content, such as efforts to restrict television violence, constitute unconstitutional censorship, according to the ACLU. Freedom of expression should be restricted only when it would cause an immediate public danger (such as by shouting “fire” in a crowded theater), the organization maintains, and television violence has not been proven to pose such a danger to the American people.

As...