AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The 'Freedom Of Speech' meme is based on a painting by Norman Rockwell, portraying a man standing up amongst an audience, appearing as if he is stating an opinion. This painting has been adapted into an image macro template used in memes to humorously express controversial opinions, as if invoking the American right to freedom of speech.

OriginWho did it first?

The 'Freedom of Speech' meme template derives from one of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings, specifically the 'Freedom of Speech', first published on February 20th, 1943. You can read more about the original painting here. Instances of the painting used in a humorous or meme-related context date back to as early as 2008, as evidenced by archived images on TinEye. Additionally, the painting was part of a memetic Facebook campaign by the artist Mark Tomasi in July 2017, linking directly to his post here.^[1]

Origin: 2020