Definition
When public officials cancel or suppress speech because they fear violent or disruptive reactions from opponents. The constitutional principle that you can silence someone by threatening to throw enough tomatoes.
Example Usage
Civil liberties groups accused the mayor of exercising a heckler's veto by canceling the controversial speaker's permit due to threatened protests.
Origin
American First Amendment jurisprudence from the 1960s, describing suppression of speech based on anticipated hostile audience reactions.
Fun Fact
Courts have generally ruled against the heckler's veto, holding that the government must protect controversial speech rather than silence it due to threats.
Source: Constitutional law and free speech terminology
Related Terms
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