The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall make no law abridging (curtailing) the freedom of speech. Thus, free speech is only protected by the U.S. Constitution when it is the government that seeks to limit free speech. The First Amendment is inapplicable when a nongovernmental person or entity—such as a private business—seeks to limit free speech.

And some types of speech are afforded more protection than others. For example, commercial speech—speech that proposes a commercial transaction—is entitled to First Amendment protection, but less protection than political speech.

In the 1980 case Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court developed a four-part test to determine whether commercial speech regulation violates the First Amendment:

1. Whether the commercial speech concerns a lawful activity and is not misleading;

2. Whether the government interest asserted to justify the regulation is "substantial";

3. Whether the regulation "directly advances" that government interest;

4. Whether the regulation is no more extensive than necessary to serve that interest.

In Nebraska, as in all states, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects individuals from government actions that would abridge their freedom of speech. This protection does not extend to private entities, meaning that private businesses in Nebraska are not bound by the First Amendment to uphold free speech rights in the same way the government is. However, when it comes to commercial speech, which includes advertising or other speech proposing a commercial transaction, there is still some level of First Amendment protection, albeit less than that afforded to political speech. The Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission case established a four-part test to assess the constitutionality of commercial speech regulations. Nebraska's state regulations on commercial speech would need to pass this test, ensuring that such regulations are justified by a substantial government interest, directly advance that interest, and are not more extensive than necessary.