This paranoid assault on political speech needs to be put to rest. The United States’s philanthropic culture is one of the hallmarks of our democracy and has been used to advance policy for the better on both the Left and Right.

Laws like these silence speech, create confusion, and discourage individuals from contributing for groups they would otherwise support.

When we discourage citizens from supporting the causes they believe in, we make our country weaker. Democracy doesn’t work without deliberation.

If we’re genuinely interested in discussing the best policy ideas for our nation, the advocate of the proposal ought to be immaterial.

Reflexive demands to punish errant speech discourage people from engaging in the kinds of dissent and deliberation that keep a society dynamic and prevent rigid orthodoxies from hardening.

“High levels of self-censorship should be treated as an ominous warning sign. They signal the development of a culture of orthodoxy that is animated by a false sense of certainty about what is true and what is false—and a proud intolerance of those who might dare to voice an opinion that conflicts with the mainstream.”