ABSTRACT
Based on that definition, speech can take the form of oral communication, letters to the editor of a newspaper or magazine, posters, video recordings, bumper stickers, yard signs, billboards, documentary films, public parades, political and commercial advertising in the print or broadcast media, and dozens of other forms of communication. Occasionally, speech is divided into pure speech and symbolic speech, the latter including displays such as wearing a black ribbon on your clothing to demonstrate grief over someone's death or burning the American flag to demonstrate contempt for the government. The purpose of the Amendment was to place the burden of proof on the government to justify why it wanted to restrict or prohibit speech, as opposed to having the burden fall on the speaker to explain why the restriction was unfair or unnecessary. Opponents of efforts to ban hate speech claim that such efforts would not eliminate the problem—they would only hide it from view.
