What's the connection?

Question

what's the connection between shouting “Fire!” and censorship?

Answer 1

The connection is a famous Supreme Court case, Schnenck v. United States, that dealt with the first amendment and limits on free speech.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., writing for the majority, stated:

"The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic."

This means that our rights to free speech are limited in cases where our speech may harm others.

Answer 2

The classic case describing free speech is that it is unlawful to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater if there is no fire, but it is lawful to shout it if you believe that there is a fire.

The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law ...  or abridging the freedom of speech, ...".  This means that you have a right to freedom of speech.  However, the courts have ruled that there can be reasonable limitations put on those rights.  The allowed limitations usually relate to situations where the free speech results in a loss of someone else other protected rights.  For example, causing a panic in a crowded theater can cause harm to others, and this is a protected right for them.

Answer 3

Censorship prevents people from saying certain things; yelling 'fire!' is something people are not allowed to do when it's not actually true because it would cause panic.