Beware Censorship by Proxy
Prodding private companies into self-censorship is a dangerous government tradition.
Free Speech
Free Speech Rights, Parental Rights, and Children with Gender Dysphoria
An interesting Arizona appellate decision rejecting a court's assignment of a treating therapist, and rejecting a gag order that limited parents' discussions with the child.
Newspapers Care Much More About Bashing Sinclair Than Criticizing an Unconstitutional Attack on Free Speech
5 editorials call for the federal government to thwart Sinclair's expansion efforts in wake of creepy promo video; meanwhile you can count the number of anti-FOSTA eds on one finger
Gawker Was Killed for Publishing Embarrassing Truths. That's Bad News.
Giving juries the power to destroy a journalism enterprise for being offensive is bad for free expression.
Open Season on Russian Oligarchs, Prison Porn Ban Heads to Court, How the Media Got the Pulse Massacre Wrong: Reason Roundup
Plus: YouTube shooter bought and registered gun legally.
Can You Guess How Much Butt This Town Will Let You Show?
Everett, Washington, continues to wage war against scantily clad "bikini baristas."
Trump's Increasingly Lawless Quest to Enforce a Bogus Rule of Law on Immigration
He is trashing the First Amendment to stifle the immigrant rights movement.
New Backpage Ruling Lays Bare Some of the Lies Undergirding FOSTA
The ruling allows a civil suit against Backpage to proceed for one of the case's three plaintiffs.
Foreign Servers No Longer Safe From Justice Department Snooping, Trade War With China Heats Up, Kremlin Says Trump Has Requested White House Summit With Putin: Reason Roundup
Plus: Hackers take over Atlanta, demand ransom to lift lock on city computers.
Video of Cato Institute Book Forum on Keith Whittington's "Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech"
The Forum features a talk by the author, with commentary by me.
ICE Trashes the First Amendment to Suppress Immigrant Activists
The Trump administration is violating the rule of law in the name of upholding it.
Silicon Valley's Ultimate Diversity Problem Is Ideological
More tech folks call themselves libertarian than anything else. So why are they afraid to speak up at work?
Mozilla's New Firefox Extension Will Try to Stop Facebook from Tracking You
But wouldn't have stopped the Cambridge Analytica incident
State Kills Anti-Porn Bill After Discovering More About Its Backer, Free Speech Win for FX's Feud, FISA Warrants Under Scrutiny: Reason Roundup
And President Trump is mad at Amazon for...ruining the postal service?
Shhh! Virginia Bars Can Host Happy Hour, but Can't Talk About It
Advertising "half-priced drinks" is legal. Advertising "two-for-one" drinks is not. Huh?
Justice John Paul Stevens Is Wrong About the Second Amendment, Again
The retired justice wants to claw back parts of the Bill of Rights.
A Dark and Stormy Week for Free Speech: Podcast
While America gawks at tales of consensual Trump-spanking, Internet freedom is coming under legislative and cultural attack
California Bill Offers Phony Solution to Fake News Problem
Proposal to verify online "bots" is security theater that will make it harder for small online firms to compete with the likes of Facebook.
"The City Cannot … Prospectively Try[] to Guess Whether Certain [Speakers] … Will … Create a Disturbance"
Spokane Valley (Wash.) resists groups' letter opposing event put on by speaker who has at times drawn unruly supporters.
University of Virginia Hires 'Social Sentinel' to Monitor Students' Social Media Posts
"They are being watched, and that's a problem."
Hours After FOSTA Passes, Reddit Bans 'Escorts' and 'SugarDaddy' Communities
The great content crackdown has begun.
Social Media Beats Censorship in Iran
The vigorous debate over censorship shows how much Iran has changed in recent years.
Political Correctness Strikes Again: High School Teacher Fired for Offensive Comments About Troops
"The classroom should never be a place where students feel that they are picked at, bullied, intimidated."
FOSTA Passes Senate, Making Prostitution Ads a Federal Crime Against Objections from DOJ and Trafficking Victims
The measure will "make it harder, not easier, to root out and prosecute sex traffickers," said Sen. Ron Wyden, one of only two senators to vote no on FOSTA.
YouTube Comedian Convicted of Hate Crime for Making Dumb Video of a Dog Saluting Hitler
"Keep fighting for free speech, the great meme war," said Count Dankula.
Sex, Lies, and Constitutional Law: The Stormy Daniels Settlement Agreement
There is, it turns out, more to the Stormy Daniels Affair than meets the eye.
Court Allows Lawsuit Against Ideological Group for Discriminatory Rejection of Noncommercial Ad in Its Publication
The National Lawyers Guild refused to run a congratulatory advertisement submitted by an Israeli organization -- the organization is suing for discrimination in "public accommodations," and a New York court has let the case go forward.
Cambridge Analytica Was Doing Marketing, Not Black Magic
There's no reason for alarm (yet) over a Facebook data "breach" that benefited a firm with ties to Trump's campaign.
Some Pundits Say There's No Campus Free Speech 'Crisis.' Here's Why They're Wrong.
"Everything we think about the political correctness debate is wrong," says Vox's Matt Yglesias. Not exactly.
Trump's Anti-Speech Agenda Gets a Boost From Lefty Lawyers and Academics
Declining support for unfettered debate among politicians, academics, and the public doesn't bode well for the future of free speech.
5 Reasons Not to Feed the Russian Troll Hysteria
"If voters are making [stupid] decisions," says Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, "that's not the Russians' fault."
Will and Grace Botches the Gay Wedding Cake Fight
Nobody has the right to force bakers to print speech they hate. The debate is over what counts as speech.
Sign Referencing Civil War Hero Is Sexual Harassment, Says Massachusetts Lawmaker
Rep. Michelle DuBois wants to remove a statehouse sign that reads "General Hooker Entrance" because it is an affront to "women's dignity."
The Death of Stalin Director Armando Iannucci on Free Minds Under Soviet Rule
Under Stalin, people could be killed for carrying joke books about him. They did it anyway.
New Orleans Threatens Man with Jail for Mural Replicating Trump's Crass 'Grab Them by the Pussy' Comments
ACLU steps in to fight zoning regulations that appear to let officials veto art based on content.
City Threatens to Sue Online Gadfly for Complaining About Bad Smells
A web developer's First Amendment lawsuit says Sibley, Iowa, officials conspired to silence him.
Teacher on Leave After Questioning Whether School Would Let Pro-Life Students Walk Out, Too
"Would that be allowed by the administration?"
Controversial Law Professor's Comments on Affirmative Action Get Her Banned From Teaching First-Year Classes
For months, Penn Law has resisted calls to punish Amy Wax for her public comments on race. Yesterday, they caved.
Facebook Bans Nationalist Anti-Muslim Group Britain First
"We do not do this lightly, but they have repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups."
Your Right to Free Speech, Like My Right to Self-Defense, Isn't Open to Debate
Rallying to call for restrictive laws is a whole lot easier than getting people to submit to them.
Whittington on Offensive Speech in the Classroom
Princeton University's Keith Whittington explains why it is sometimes wise -- even necessary -- to expose students to potentially offensive material
Today in History: SCOTUS Protects the Corporate Speech Rights of The New York Times
Marking the 54th anniversary of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
Judge Tells Trump to Pretend to Listen to Twitter Haters
A lawsuit leads to a suggestion that the president engage in a kinder, gentler ignoring.
University of Miami Demands $7500 for Security for Free Speech Debate Involving Charles Murray [UPDATE: Dean's response added, post bumped up to reflect that]
That is what students at the University of Miami School of Law are reporting. [EARLIER UPDATE: The Dean tells me that things are more complicated than at first reported, and they're trying to see if things can be worked out; I hope to have more from the Dean in a few days.] [UPDATE 3/15: The University has agreed to pay the security fee.]
Some Progressives Targeting the First Amendment, Too
It's not just the Second Amendment in their crosshairs.
