---
title: "Intellectual freedom"
chunk: 1/6
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_freedom"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:16:50.358602+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Intellectual freedom comprises the bedrock for freedoms of expression, speech, and the press and relates to freedoms of information and the right to privacy.
The United Nations upholds intellectual freedom as a basic human right through Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which asserts:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
The institution of libraries in particular values intellectual freedom as part of their mission to provide and protect access to information and ideas. The American Library Association (ALA) defines intellectual freedom as "the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement can be explored."
The modern concept of intellectual freedom developed out of an opposition to book censorship. It is promoted by several professions and movements. These entities include, among others, librarianship, education, and the free software movement.

== Issues ==
Intellectual freedom encompasses many areas including issues of academic freedom, Internet filtering, and censorship. Because proponents of intellectual freedom value an individual's right to choose informational concepts and media to formulate thought and opinion without repercussion, restrictions to access and barriers to privacy of information constitute intellectual freedom issues. 
Issues surrounding restrictions to access include:

banned books, book burning, and challenges to literature
censorship and attempts to censor including, but not limited to book censorship, film censorship, censorship of music, censorship of maps, censorship of individual words, censorship of comic books, and video game censorship
self-censorship by authors, editors, journalists, or library materials selectors
internet filtering through content-control software
internet filtering through internet censorship
internet safety legislation and initiatives such as Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and Neighborhood Internet Protection Act (NCIPA)
net neutrality
government information and freedom of information laws
Issues concerning barriers to privacy of information include:

data mining
surveillance
data protection and information privacy laws and practices
confidentiality of library users' records of access
legislation that suspends civil liberties in the name of national security such as the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act
While proponents of intellectual freedom work to prohibit acts of censorship, calls for censorship are valued as free speech. "In expressing their opinions and concerns, would-be censors are exercising the same rights librarians seek to protect when they confront censorship. In making their criticisms known, people who object to certain ideas are exercising the same rights as those who created and disseminated the material to which they object." The first amendment right to voice opinions and persuade others—both for the exclusion and inclusion of content and concepts—should be protected.

== History ==

The contemporary definition, limits, and inclusions of intellectual freedom primarily developed through a number of common law judgments by the United States Supreme Court regarding the First Amendment and policy statements of groups dedicated to the advocacy and defense of civil liberties.

=== Abrams v. United States (1919) ===

In his oft-quoted dissent on the free speech case of two defendants convicted of inciting anti-war sentiment and action, Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. aligns the freedoms of speech and expression with the freedom of thought as follows:

Persecution for the expression of opinions seems to me perfectly logical. If you have no doubt of your premises or your power and want a certain result with all your heart you naturally express your wishes in law and sweep away all opposition . . . But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas. . . The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes can be safely carried out."

=== Whitney v. California (1927) ===

A case in which the Supreme Court sustains the conviction of a woman for anti-government speech akin to terrorism. In his opinion on the matter, Justice Brandeis delineates the role of freedom of thought to inform free speech, attributing the value of intellectual freedom as a civil liberty to the founders of the United States, asserting:

Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties. . . They believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth.

=== Olmstead v. United States (1928) ===

A case in which the US Supreme Court deliberated whether a citizen's Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights were violated when evidence to convict him of bootlegging was obtained through wiretapping. Justice Brandeis provides precedence for the inclusion of intellectual freedom as a constitutional right in his dissenting opinion, claiming the US Constitution's authors "recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, his feelings, and his intellect" and "sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations." Brandeis would ultimately argue for the right to privacy, another important dimension of intellectual freedom, as an extension of American civil rights.

=== United States v. Schwimmer (1929) ===