Historic Figures Who Recognized That Speech Is Freedom’s First Line of Defense “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money.” It’s a sad, tragic, and shocking commentary on what some parents and many schools are teaching these days that Douglass’s statement might not meet with majority approval in America. Recent polls indicate that more than half of the American public believe that the First Amendment (which guarantees free speech) “is outdated and ought to be rewritten.” Support for what is traditionally regarded as freedom of speech is lowest among millennials.