Opinion: The vulnerability and necessity of Free SpeechAs Nobel laureate Toni Morrison said: We speak, we write, we do language. Brandeis suggests that there is an overwhelming reason to defend free speech: it makes the Public. If speech is likely to produce or amplify harm — as hate speech does — then it is not acceptable. Governments hide behind the phrases ‘national interest’, ‘national identity’ and ‘national good’ as reasons to curb free speech. Often described as ‘speaking back’, responding to and countering hate speech, misinformation and tutored bias, is what enables Public Reason.