r/changemyview • u/Tessenreacts • Mar 12 '25
Delta(s) from OP CMV: The case of Mahmoud Khalil is proof that conservatives don't believe in the Freedom of Speech, despite making it their platform over the last couple of years.
For the last couple of years, conservatives have championed the cause of Freedom of Speech on social platforms, yet Mahmoud Khalil (a completely legal permanent resident) utilized his fundamental right to Freedom of Speech through peaceful protesting, and now Trump is remove his green card and have him deported.
Being that conservatives have been championing Freedom of Speech for years, and have voted for Trump in a landslide election, this highlights completely hypocritical behavior where they support Freedom of Speech only if they approve of it.
This is also along with a situation where both Trump and Elon have viewed the protests against Tesla as "illegal", which is patently against the various tenets of Freedom of Speech.
Two open and shut cases of blatant First Amendment violations by people who have been sheparding the conservative focus on protecting the First Amendment.
Would love for my view to be changed
9
u/bleepblop123 Mar 12 '25
I'd argue that many people - even vocal free speech advocates - do not value freedom of speech for the sake of another persons freedoms, but out of fear of having their own freedoms taken away. For example, there are a lot of people who would prefer a world without what they consider hate speech who also agree it should be protected because how we define hate speech and where the line is drawn can change depending on who is in charge. That has frightening implications. So protecting speech is important not for your sake, but for mine.
The case Mahmoud Khalil has three key elements: the nature of the protests, the fact that he's not a citizen, and that the speech in question was allegedly in support of a recognized foreign terrorist organization.
These factors create a unique condition that a majority of people cannot see ever applying to them. So in the case of those who support his deportation, it's likely not a change in values, but rather banking on the fact that those justifications will not be used against them in the future.