John Stossel aims his latest column at those who target free speech.

Today, fortunately, no one goes to jail for criticizing the draft, or the U.S. government’s wars. So we’ve made progress — in some areas. But in others, we’ve regressed. I once interviewed someone who said words are like bullets because words can wound; this justified some censorship in his eyes.

Ugly words in a workplace can indeed make it hard for someone to succeed at work, and racism in school can make it hard to learn. But I say words are words and bullets are bullets. Speech is special. We should counter hateful speech with more words — not government force.

I discussed this issue with lawyer Harvey Silverglate, who has devoted his career to defending speech. These days, he sees new threats.

“The old threats we managed to beat mostly in court and also in the court of public opinion,” Silverglate said. “So the censors have simply come up with new terms for speech they don’t like. They call it ‘harassment’ or … ‘bullying.'”