October 7: A Turning Point for Free Speech?
Restricting speech about the world's most pressing problems does not make them go away, nor does it settle any disputes.
Hate Speech
After Resisting Demands To Punish 'Hate Speech,' Penn's President Capitulated. It Did Not Save Her Job.
Liz Magill and two other university leaders provoked bipartisan outrage by defending freedom of expression on campus.
Is Support for "From the River to the Sea" Based Upon Ignorance?
Younger Americans, in particular, appear to support calls for Palestinian liberation, but do they understand what a common slogan means?
David Lat, "Against Free-Speech Hypocrisy"
"And in (partial) defense of Harvard President Claudine Gay's controversial congressional testimony."
"This Will Not End Well": FIRE on Penn President's Backtracking on Free Speech
"Conservatives like Rep. Elise Stefanik should ask themselves: Do you honestly believe this [proposed new rule against "calls for genocide"] won't be weaponized to ban an Israeli cabinet official from speaking at Penn? An Israeli Defense Force soldier?"
FIRE's Statement on the House Hearings on Anti-Semitism
"Double standards are frustrating, but we should address them by demanding free speech be protected consistently — not by expanding the calls for censorship."
Irish Prison for Edgelords and Hotheads?
Plus: Repealing tobacco bans, UN pointlessness, Substack's "Nazi problem," and more…
Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott: The Canceling of the American Mind
“We've taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That's no way to grow up.”
Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott: The Canceling of the American Mind
“We've taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That's no way to grow up.”
The Bipartisan Urge To Control Online Speech
Democrats and Republicans are united in thinking their political agendas trump the First Amendment.
[UPDATED] New York AG Tells Platforms to Disclose What They Are Doing About "Calls for Violence and Other Materials That May Incite Violence"
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression responds.
New York's Online Hate Speech Law Raises Serious First Amendment Concerns
Even content creators outside of New York would feel its effects.
Amicus Briefs in Volokh v. James, the Second Circuit Case Related to Social Media "Hate Speech" Policies
"For the most part, the American Civil Liberties Union, Young Americans for Freedom, and the Babylon Bee don't see eye to eye."
'Free Speech Absolutist' Elon Musk Threatens Anti-Defamation League With Defamation Lawsuit
Plus: The doubling of the deficit, young Americans souring on college, and more...
A Ruling Against a Man Arrested for a COVID-19 Joke Highlights the Influence of a Pernicious Analogy
A federal judge compared Waylon Bailey’s Facebook jest to "falsely shouting fire in a theatre."
The Washington Post Says Democracy Demands Less Freedom of Speech
The paper worries that "social media companies are receding from their role as watchdogs against political misinformation."
First Amendment Protects Sign at University Saying "God Created Male and Female and Artemis Langford Is a Male"
Langford had been in the news for joining a sorority, which has caused a good deal of controversy at the University of Wyoming.
First Amendment Claim of Professor Fired Over Article Claiming Race-Based Genetic IQ Differences …
can go forward, rules a federal judge, denying Cleveland State University's motion to dismiss.
Some Critics of the Ruling Against Biden's Censorship by Proxy Have a Beef With the 1st Amendment Itself
"Disinformation" researchers alarmed by the injunction against government meddling with social media content admire legal regimes that allow broad speech restrictions.
Court: Public School Likely May Ban Student from Wearing "There Are Only Two Genders" T-Shirt,
notwithstanding the First Amendment.
The SPLC Is Massively Overcounting 'Hate' Groups—and It's Not Just Moms for Liberty
At this rate, the Southern Poverty Law Center's notorious hate map might eventually describe everyone as an extremist.
Connecticut S. Ct. Sharply Limits State's "Racial Ridicule" Law
Prosecutors and police had read the law, which restricts "advertisements," as broadly banning racial slurs; the Connecticut court read it, as written, to restrict only commercial advertisements.
District Court Halts New York Law Forcing Online Platforms To 'Respond' to 'Hateful' Speech
"Today's decision is a victory for the First Amendment that should be celebrated by everyone who hopes to see the internet continue as a place where even difficult and contentious issues can be debated and discussed freely," said one attorney.
Studies Find Conservatives More Committed to Free Speech Online, Federalism
Plus: Government regulation of speech is on trial, biohackers flock to experimental charter city in Honduras, and more…
Davos Elites Warn That Disinformation Is an Existential Threat to Their Influence
At the World Economic Forum, Brian Stelter and panelists discuss why everything is Facebook's fault.
Teacher Can Proceed With First Amendment Lawsuit Over Threatened Punishment for Wearing MAGA Hat to Training
A defendant had argued that she could allow Black Lives Matters posters but forbid MAGA hats on the theory that, "While the Black Lives Matter poster is a symbol of cultural acceptance and inclusivity ... Mr. Dodge's MAGA hat is a symbol commonly associated with white supremacy and other anti-immigrant sentiments." No, says a Ninth Circuit panel.
Ninth Circuit Judge Urges Supreme Court "Not to Give Any First Amendment Protection for Racist Hate Speech"
“[G]overnment officials ... should not be unduly constrained in their attempts to regulate hate speech for the purpose of protecting the intended targets of said speech. This may require some refining of the Supreme Court’s prior guidance in its precedents.... For example, the Court could consider modifying the Brandenburg test to require only a probable and emerging threat of violence rather than imminent lawless action as a result of speech in order to regulate it.”
Ninth Circuit Upholds Expulsions for Off-Campus Abusive Speech That Targets Particular Students
“Students ... remain free to express offensive and other unpopular viewpoints [at least outside school], but that does not include a license to disseminate severely harassing invective targeted at particular classmates in a manner that is readily and foreseeably transmissible to those students.”
Hamline Student Newspaper (the Oracle) Removed Published Defense of Lecturer Who Showed Painting of Muhammad
"[T]rauma and lived experiences," the newspaper says, "are not open for debate."
