QUORA: Does the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protect writers who intentionally publish false information?

 QUORA: Does the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protect writers who intentionally publish false information? Apparently, Alex Jones is saying that “It is his constitutional right to invent stories.”

I posted this answer:

Of course it does. And of course it’s his right. The First Amendment is crystal clear on this: Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. The First Amendment protects you from the government, but only from the government. This protection is understood to extend to all levels of American government.

What the First Amendment doesn’t do is protect you from civil consequences.  It does not protect you from private individuals or associations of individuals who can objectively prove in court that they have been materially harmed by your invented stories, whether written or spoken. That’s why we have libel and slander laws. 

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