Why traditional definitions of free speech are obsolete in the age of Trump and social media hate

The day following the storming of Capitol Hill by Trump supporters, whose use of the Confederate flag signalled a white supremacist insurrection, Simon & Schuster announced that it was cancelling the publication of United States Senator Josh Hawley’s book, The Tyranny of Big Tech. Simon & Schuster justified their decision based on Hawley’s involvement in challenging the election results and helping incite the violence.

Hawley replied with an angry tweet about how this was an affront to the First Amendment and he would see them in court. Of course, Hawley, a graduate of Yale Law School, is fully aware that a publisher cancelling a book contract has nothing to do with the First Amendment. Simon & Schuster is a private company that acts in its own interests and this depends only on the fine print of the book contract.

Hawley’s anger is not just folly or…