, Columnist
Free Speech Inc.
The First Amendment was written to protect speech related to self-government. Now it's used as a corporate shield against regulation.
Far from the courtroom.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The most illuminating free-speech case of 2015 has nothing to do with political speech, or civil-rights protests, or hate speech, or any other issues we used to associate with the First Amendment. It has to do with an obscure provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to require companies to inform the public if their products use conflict minerals.
The case, brought by the National Association of Manufacturers, is the culmination of a stunningly successful corporate movement to transform the First Amendment into an all-purpose shield against even modest regulation. Let’s give the movement a name: Free Speech Inc.