Speech vs. Threats
People can say cruel, hateful, ignorant and deeply offensive things. An opinion is not a crime, and opinions are not why we exist. We look for something narrower: signs that someone may intend to hurt people.
What you need to know
- Opinions are not illegal. The First Amendment protects them, including ones most people find hateful.
- A threat is not an opinion. The Supreme Court has long held that true threats of violence are not protected speech.
- We look for possible intent to hurt people: a named target, a violent act, a means, a time, a plan.
- We do not decide what is a threat or a crime. Police, prosecutors and courts do. We pass along what we find.
Two different things
Being offended by a post and being endangered by one are not the same. Our work starts only at the second.
What we leave alone
- Opinions, however offensive
- Political views, on any side
- Religious beliefs, or attacks on them
- Protest, criticism, satire and insults
- Slurs and stereotypes with no threat attached
What we look for
- A statement about killing or hurting a named person or group
- A named place: a synagogue, mosque, church, school, office or home
- A weapon or other means
- A date, a time or an event
- Planning, recruiting, or someone moving toward a target
Hateful opinions are protected. Hateful conduct may not be.
A person may hold and state a hateful belief. The same person may not vandalize a house of worship, assault someone, stalk them or harass them. Those are acts, and the law treats them as acts whatever belief sits behind them.
Calls for violence are judged on their words and setting. Under Brandenburg v. Ohio, abstract talk about violence is protected. Speech directed at producing imminent lawless action, and likely to produce it, is not.
Political exaggeration is protected too. In Watts v. United States, the Supreme Court threw out a conviction over a crude remark about the president at a rally, calling it political hyperbole. Heated language about public officials is common, and most of it is exactly that.
Opinion, possible threat, true threat
Most of what worries people online sits in the middle, where the answer is "maybe." That middle is where careful reading matters most.
Opinion
Never illegal. A view about a person, group, faith or government, however ugly. We do not track it and we do not report it.
Possible threat
Words about violence toward a specific person or place. It may be a threat. It may be anger or exaggeration. Context decides, and the people who can look further should see it.
True threat
A legal finding, made by a court. A serious expression of intent to commit unlawful violence against a person or group. Not protected by the First Amendment.
We work in the second column. We never place anyone in the third. That is not our call to make.
What the law says about threats
A threat does not require proof that the speaker means to carry it out. The harm of a threat is the fear and disruption it causes. Someone who never planned to act can still have made one.
Context and the speaker's awareness matter. In Counterman v. Colorado (2023), the Supreme Court held that the government must show the speaker consciously disregarded a substantial risk that the words would be viewed as threatening violence. The same sentence can be a joke in one setting and a threat in another.
States write their own threat laws. Some are broad and some are narrow, so a post that leads to an arrest in one state may lead to nothing in another. An arrest is also not a conviction.
What suggests possible intent
No single sign proves anything. Analysts weigh them together, and note what is missing as carefully as what is there.
- A named target
- A specific person, congregation, building or event, as opposed to a group in the abstract.
- A specific act
- Shooting, stabbing, burning, bombing or hanging, stated plainly.
- Means
- A weapon shown, bought, built or asked about.
- Timing
- A date, a countdown, or "this weekend."
- Planning
- Addresses, schedules, photos of a site, questions about security.
- Movement
- Signs the person is traveling to, or has been near, the target.
- Leakage
- Telling others what is coming. Many attackers announce it first.
- Repetition
- The same person returning to the same target, with the language getting sharper.
- Last words
- Goodbye messages, or praise for past attackers as models.
What we do and what we do not
We do
- Read public posts for possible intent to hurt people
- Record what was said, where, and about whom
- Note which warning signs are present and which are absent
- Send that to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction
- Mark every product as analysis that can be wrong
We do not
- Decide whether a statement is a threat or a crime
- Track or report opinions, politics or religion
- Investigate, arrest or enforce any law
- Use fake identities to enter private groups
If you see a threat
If someone is in danger right now, call 911.
Otherwise, save the post with a screenshot and its link, and report it to local police or to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also send it to NCTIC at contact@desk.communitythreat.org or 623-267-1769 with a note on why it worried you. We route each one to the agency with jurisdiction.
Frequently asked
Is hate speech illegal in the United States?
Generally, no. The First Amendment protects offensive opinions, including expressions of prejudice. Hateful conduct, such as vandalism, assault, stalking or harassment, can be a crime, and true threats of violence are not protected.
Does a threat have to be meant seriously to count?
A threat does not require proof that the speaker intends to carry it out. Context matters, and so does the speaker's awareness. Under Counterman v. Colorado (2023), the government must show the speaker consciously disregarded a substantial risk that the words would be viewed as threatening violence.
Does NCTIC decide what is a threat or a crime?
No. NCTIC looks for possible intent to hurt people and passes what it finds to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. Police, prosecutors and courts decide what is a threat and what is a crime.
Does NCTIC report people for their opinions?
No. NCTIC does not track or report opinions, political views, religious beliefs, protest, satire or criticism of any government, group or faith.
What should I do if I see a threat online?
If someone is in danger right now, call 911. Otherwise, save the post, report it to the platform, and send it to local police, the FBI at tips.fbi.gov, or NCTIC with a note on why it worried you.
How we put this together. This page states NCTIC's standard for separating protected opinion from possible threats. The legal points come from the Supreme Court decisions listed below. It is a plain-language summary, not legal advice, and state laws differ. NCTIC products are analysis and can be wrong.
NCTIC is an independent nonprofit, non-governmental organization. It is not a government agency, does not act under government authority, and does not make or enforce laws.
Opinions are not illegal. Ever. NCTIC does not track or report opinions, beliefs or protected speech. We look for people who express intent to hurt Americans.
We take no position on immigration or other policy questions and do not blame threats on any group. Our anchor is simple: the law says no violence against people, whoever they are.