This week, parents of students at the University of California at Berkeley took the extreme step of hiring private security to protect their children at the school after years of complaints over rising crime and anti-police policies. The university, however, is focused this week on another threat that has led students to object that they no longer feel safe on campus: the dating advice offered by Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Professor Jonathan Shewchuk in response to a query from a student. Continue reading ““Blatantly Misogynistic”: UC Berkeley Students Declare That They Feel Unsafe After Professor Shares Dating Advice”
Category: Free Speech
We have previously discussed the unrelenting attacks by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his allies on free speech. There has been a steady criminalization of speech, including even jokes and religious speech, in Canada. Now, the Canadian parliament is moving toward a new change that would allow the imposition of life imprisonment on those who post views deemed supportive of genocide. With a growing movement calling Israel’s war in Gaza “genocide,” the potential scope of such a law is readily apparent. That appears to be its very draw for anti-free speech advocates in the country. Continue reading “Oh Canada: The Parliament Moves to Impose Potential Life Imprisonment for Speech Crimes”
There is a controversy brewing in the City of College Park, Maryland over its “racial equity” leader Kayla Aliese Carter, who is tasked with eliminating systemic racism in the departments of the liberal city. Carter has called for the United States to be burned down to allow for “Black Liberation.” The city says that it is investigating, but Carter is an interesting snapshot of what I have called the “radical chic” in academia and society. She is a revolutionary who called for violence while complaining that she is being asked to work for a living. In addressing the controversy, the City of College Park will now need to establish a free speech principle that will apply equally to revolutionaries and reactionaries alike.
Continue reading “College Park Under Fire Over Self-Professed Revolutionary “Racial Equity” Leader”
It took just three days.
After drag performer RuPaul announced the creation of a “no censorship” Allstora bookstore, censorship was back with a vengeance after many on the left learned that free speech meant that opposing views might be sold at the site. While the sentiment was appealing, it became intolerable when activists noted that a “no censorship” store would mean that they could not censor others. Continue reading ““Banning Books is Never the Answer”: RuPaul’s “No Censorship” Bookstore Lasted Just Three Days”
According to The Jerusalem Post and other sites, an Israeli physics professor’s lecture at the University of Nevada (Las Vegas) was shutdown by anti-Israel protesters because campus police insisted that they had a free speech right to prevent him from speaking. It is a common claim made by anti-free speech faculty and students that is perfectly nonsensical. It is a rationalization to yield to the heckler’s veto. Continue reading ““What About My Freedom of Speech?” UNLV Shuts Down Israeli Professor’s Lecture Rather Than Remove Anti-Israel Protesters”
We have been discussing the alarming shift in higher education in favor of censorship and speech regulations. These voices have been amplified on media platforms like MSNBC which has championed efforts to censor people and groups on social media and other forums. The most recent example is the interview of University of Michigan Law Professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade by Rachel Maddow. In the interview, McQuade explains how the First Amendment is the “Achilles Heel” of the United States and why the public needs to embrace greater limitations on free speech. Continue reading “MSNBC Legal Analyst: Free Speech Could Be America’s “Achilles Heel””
Texas billionaire John Arnold has long held a notorious position for many in the free speech community as the financier for efforts to establish massive censorship systems in the United States. While Elon Musk has been attacked for his effort to reduce such censorship at X (formerly Twitter), Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have long pushed censorship efforts, even funding a commercial campaign to get people to embrace what they call “content moderation.” Now Zuckerberg has put Arnold on the Meta Board of Directors in a blow to efforts to get the company to accept free speech values. Continue reading “Meta Adds Censorship Supporter to Board of Directors”
Last year, we discussed a Democratic candidate (Will Rollins) for Congress who was running on an anti-free speech pledge to increase censorship in the United States. Now there is a GOP candidate for Secretary of State in Missouri, Valentina Gomez, who is literally running on a book burning platform. Continue reading “Torching Free Speech: Republican Candidate in Missouri is Running as a Book Burner”
This week, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government issued a new report on the Biden Administration’s massive censorship system. The ongoing investigation has exposed the coordination in a system of blacklisting, throttling, and suspensions of targeted citizens and groups. Now, it appears that the Biden White House also pushed for Amazon to target dissenting books to suppress sales by blocking promotions. After all, why burn books when you can bury them? Continue reading ““Externalizing the Difficult Responsibility of Censorship”: Higher Education in the Censorship Triad”
We have been covering the backlash against Disney over its social and political agenda as well as the recent loss in its fight against the state of Florida. Now the company is facing a new lawsuit supported by Elon Musk that alleges that it fired actress Gina Carano over conservative views expressed on X. The complaint below makes some interesting comparisons in how liberals have been allowed to make analogous statements in the House of Mouse while conservatives are given the chop. Continue reading ““A Short Time Ago in a Galaxy Not So Far Away”… Disney was Sued by an Actress over Free Speech”
The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Monday revealed yet another facet of the Biden Administration’s sprawling censorship system that targeted dissenting books. It appears that, as with social media companies, it succeeded in getting the company not to promote disfavored books. Continue reading “Why Burn Books When You Can Bury Them? The White House Pressured Amazon to Target Dissenting Books”
This week, Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, announced that the South Dakota tribe had banished Gov. Kristi Noem (R) from its reservation over her remarks on the U.S.-Mexico border last week, including calling the influx of undocumented migrants “an invasion.” There is likely little practical recourse for the governor. However, the decision runs counter to the tribe’s constitution, which includes the protection of free speech. For those of us who view free speech as a human right, the tribe’s decision is fundamentally wrong regardless of how one feels about Gov. Noem’s support for the state of Texas.
Continue reading “South Dakota Tribe Bans Gov. Noem Over Border Comments”
Last year, I criticized the lawsuit of Disney against Florida after losing its special status in the former Reedy Creek Improvement District. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee appears to view the matter as dimly as I did. He just dismissed the action in a major loss for the House of Mouse. Continue reading “The Most Litigious Place on Earth: Disney Loses Major Challenge to Florida”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) yesterday called for the denaturalization of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after a controversial speech was uncovered in which she pledged to put Somalia first in Congress and her work. While I have been a long critic of Omar, her views expressed in this speech are not only protected speech, but they are not a basis for denaturalization. Continue reading “No, Omar Cannot be Denaturalized on the Basis of her “Somalians First” Speech”
The Russians are back just in time for another election. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared on Sunday that pro-Palestinian protesters were “connected to Russia” and pushing “Mr. Putin’s message.” She called for . . . you guessed it . . . a new Russian investigation. Continue reading “Russians! Nancy Pelosi Declares Protesters at her Home Are Possible Putin Plants”