# Free Speech and Sedition

> Free Speech & Sedition is a legal-reference surface of the SoapBox civic ecosystem, published at free-speech.soapbox.community. It sets out the U.S. First Amendment law of speech alongside the law of…

Canonical: https://wiki.soapbox.community/wiki/Free_Speech_and_Sedition
Section: Law and your rights
Last updated: 2026-10-20
Publisher: Library of Ashurbanipal (Van Kush Family Research Institute), https://wiki.soapbox.community

**Free Speech & Sedition** is a legal-reference surface of the SoapBox civic ecosystem, published at free-speech.soapbox.community. It sets out the U.S. First Amendment law of speech alongside the law of sedition — the point where protected dissent and criminal conduct are drawn apart.

## What it covers

- **The incitement test** — the modern standard under which advocacy becomes punishable only when it is directed to and likely to produce imminent lawless action.
- **Protected vs. unprotected speech** — the categories the law treats differently.
- **Seditious conspiracy** — the sedition statutes and what they require.
- **Surveillance and chilling effects** — how monitoring can suppress lawful speech.

## Editorial rule

The surface is cited and descriptive, *not advocacy*: it states what the law is and what the leading cases hold, and is not legal advice.

## See also

- SoapBox Law
- Legal Doctrines
- Rights That Hold Up in Court

## Sources

- [free-speech.soapbox.community](https://free-speech.soapbox.community)

## Coverage

Describes the surface's sections and its descriptive, non-advocacy posture as published.