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Bentham’s utilitarianism effects a radical transformation of earlier free speech doctrine, by placing it in the service of the pursuit of truth and the control of government. It preserves the distinction between statements of opinion and of fact, awarding the latter a lesser degree of protection. As was the case for his father James Mill, the early writings of John Stuart Mill retain this distinction, but their accounts are weighed down by logical flaws and political naivety. In On Liberty, Mill seeks to address and resolve these problems on the basis of a new justification for free speech as free deliberative thought. I argue that, contrary to most interpretations, his new justification leaves untouched the basic distinction between absolutely protected expressions of opinion and only functionally and contingently protected assertions of fact, leaving room for restrictions on factual statements, especially when untrue.