Scalia explained that "The reason why fighting words are categorically excluded from the protection of the First Amendment is not that their content communicates any particular idea, but that their content embodies a particularly intolerable (and socially unnecessary) mode of expressing whatever idea the speaker wishes ...

Is offensive speech protected by the First Amendment?

The First Amendment offers fairly broad protection to offensive, repugnant and hateful speech. Regulations against hate speech imposed by a government actor (like a public university) are often found unconstitutional when they are challenged in court.

What types of speech are not protected by the First Amendment?

“Not all speech is protected. ... The Supreme Court has called the few exceptions to the 1st Amendment "well-defined and narrowly limited." They include obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, true threats and speech integral to already criminal conduct.