Sedition Act of 1918

E55664

United States federal statute speech restriction law

The Sedition Act of 1918 was a World War I–era U.S. law that expanded restrictions on speech by criminalizing criticism of the government, the Constitution, the military, or the war effort.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Sedition Act of 1918 canonical	9
Sedition Act (1918)	1
Sedition Act provisions of the Espionage Act of 1917	1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal statute ⓘ speech restriction law ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ surface form: Sedition Act (1918)
amends	Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
criminalized	abusive language about the United States Constitution ⓘ abusive language about the United States armed forces ⓘ abusive language about the United States flag ⓘ abusive language about the United States government ⓘ advocacy of curtailment of war production ⓘ disloyal language about the United States Constitution ⓘ disloyal language about the United States armed forces ⓘ disloyal language about the United States flag ⓘ disloyal language about the United States government ⓘ speech intended to incite resistance to the war effort ⓘ speech intended to obstruct the sale of war bonds ⓘ
criticizedFor	restricting freedom of speech ⓘ suppressing political dissent ⓘ
dateEnacted	1918-05-16 ⓘ
dateRepealed	1920-12-13 ⓘ
dateSigned	1918-05-16 ⓘ
enactedBy	United States Congress ⓘ
historicalPeriod	World War I era ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States government ⓘ surface form: federal government of the United States
legalArea	First Amendment law ⓘ criminal law ⓘ national security law ⓘ
legislativeBody	65th United States Congress ⓘ
maximumPenalty	$10,000 fine (1918 dollars) ⓘ 20 years imprisonment ⓘ
notableDefendant	Eugene V. Debs ⓘ
partOf	Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ surface form: United States Espionage and Sedition Acts
penalty	fine ⓘ imprisonment ⓘ
relatedTo	Abrams v. United States ⓘ Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ Schenck v. United States ⓘ civil liberties during wartime ⓘ
repealedBy	Act of Congress of December 13, 1920 ⓘ
signedBy	Woodrow Wilson ⓘ
signingPresident	Woodrow Wilson ⓘ
status	repealed ⓘ
subject	civil liberties in the United States ⓘ freedom of speech ⓘ sedition ⓘ
usedToProsecute	antiwar activists ⓘ political radicals ⓘ socialists ⓘ
warContext	World War I ⓘ

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Espionage Act of 1917 → relatedLegislation → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Woodrow Wilson administration → notablePolicy → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Smith Act → relatedTo → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Abrams v. United States → legalIssue → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Abrams v. United States → statuteApplied → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Sedition Act of 1918 → alsoKnownAs → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

this entity surface form: Sedition Act (1918)

First Red Scare → legalBasis → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

65th United States Congress → enacted → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Act of Congress of December 13, 1920 → repeals → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

this entity surface form: Sedition Act provisions of the Espionage Act of 1917

Act of Congress of December 13, 1920 → repeals → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ

Act of Congress of December 13, 1920 → relatedTo → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ