It is unfortunately not uncommon to see people tweeting about getting rid of a particular race or gender on social media. It does cause a bit more of a stir when that person is the spokesperson for the public schools in Washington, D.C., Hilary Tone. In a heated response to word that former Texas governor Rick Perry would be picked as Energy Secretary, Tone dashed off a statement on Twitter that “If wanting to get rid of something qualifies you to run it, I want to be Secretary of White Men.” Not exactly what one expects from a spokesperson, but the D.C. schools have been remarkably quiet in response to the posting (which was later withdrawn) by its spokesperson.
Category: Free Speech
We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here) and England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. We have seen comedians targeted with such court orders under this expanding and worrisome trend. (here and here). Even politicians have been charged under the ever-widening standard of criminalized speech. Now Spain has made clear that it is committed to the same trend of curtailing free speech. In a moment worthy of Franco, Spanish police arrested five Catalan independence activists for allegedly burning photos of King Felipe VI. Much like arrests in Russia, destroying or disrespecting the image of the national leader is all that is required in Spain.
Continue reading “Spain Arrests Five Activists For Burning Picture Of King Felipe VI”
We recently discussed the latest outrage a protest by Malak Al Shehri, who decided to do what most women around the world do without a second’s thought: she went out into public without covering herself up with a veil or hijab. Malak then posted herself on a public street. The result was outrage with some calling for her to be beheaded or “thrown to the dogs.” Now she has been arrested under the medieval Islamic Sharia system — religious orthodoxy masquerading as a legal system and imposed by “judges” who are little more than clerics coercing citizens to adhere to their religious views.
Continue reading “Saudi Woman Arrested For Removing Abaya Covering In Public”
We have previously discussed the increasing criminalization of speech. Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has been the focused of another of these past cases, which I have criticized as undermining free speech values. Now Wilders has been convicted of hate speech and inciting racial discrimination for espousing his far right views. One does not have to agree with Wilders — and many vehemently condemn his views — to see the implications of the criminalization of speech in Europe.
Continue reading “Conservative Dutch Politician Geert Wilders Convicted For Hate Speech”
For the first time, Israel has denied entry to a prominent traveler due to her part advocacy of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. African theologian and academic Isabel Phiri is an assistant general secretary with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. She was refused entry at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Monday afternoon. The decision has raised a long-standing concern over people being barred from Israel for their political views and protected speech. The decision this week raises the concern that millions of people supporting the BDS movement could be barred from entry on the basis of their political support for the movement.
Continue reading “Israel Bars Entry To Boycott Advocate In Major Free Speech Controversy”
We recently discussed the courageous stand of the University of Chicago in favor of free speech (a position followed by schools like Purdue). We can now add the Cardiff University in Wales as a school standing with free speech principles over demands for censorship and “safe zones”. Conversely, student leaders at Tufts University unanimously voted against a measure protecting free speech by addressing the vague and fluid terms used to curtail free speech.
Continue reading “Cardiff and Tufts Universities: Two Divergent Paths On Free Speech”
Longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dead at age 90. While many around the world spoke highly of Castro’s success in greatly reducing illiteracy and proving basic services like health care, I have long been critical of his reign and his enablers in the West. Whatever success he achieved, he did so through a brutal dictatorship that denied freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and other basic civil liberties. For those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s, he was a defining character of our generation. The menace across the border. When we were being taught to shelter under our desks in any nuclear attack, it was his image with that of the Soviet premier that would be flashed across the screen. It was a time of utter madness and mania — on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Continue reading “DEATH OF A DICTATOR: FIDEL CASTRO DEAD AT AGE 90”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel long ago established herself as a menace to free speech, particularly in her decision to first apologize to authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a satirical poem and then approve the prosecution of the comedian is a shocking and chilling disgrace. Now, she is throwing her support behind a crackdown on “hate speech” on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube — radically expanding the already broad scope of government regulation of speech.
Continue reading “Merkel Backs Crackdown on Free Speech On Social Media Sites”
School officials at Loyola University Maryland pressured student government leaders to drop the “America” theme for their senior class party as “very alienating, divisive and harmful” and against the university’s “core values.” The party was to be one of four celebrations for graduating seniors and the theme was selected by the students themselves but then declared as inappropriate and offensive by university officials.
Continue reading “America Theme For College Party Declared “Alienating, Divisive, and Harmful””
We have followed the actions of various universities and colleges to bar conservative speech either by declaring their positions as hate speech or claiming a campus security risk. One of the targets of this content-based censorship has been conservative British commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. Now, Yiannopoulos, 32, has been barred from speaking at his own former grammar school in the United Kingdom: Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury.
We have previously discussed how some European countries limit the names that can be given to chidren, including some with approved lists of names. We have seen such controversies arise in this country with children, for example, named after Adolph Hitler. However, this generally remains a protected right of parents in the United States. The latest case comes out of France where a court will decide whether a Muslim family can use the name of Mohamed Merah, an Islamic radical who killed seven people in 2012.
Continue reading “French Parents Fight To Give Infant The Name of Notorious Terrorist”
There is an interesting controversy out of New York where Rutgers University lecturer Kevin Allred who was arrested and sent to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation for what he and his supporters say were political speech about the Second Amendment. In a tweet, Allred wrote “Will the 2nd amendment be as cool when i buy a gun and start shooting at random white people or no…?” The answer appears to be no.
There is an interesting free speech case brewing in Traverse City, Michigan where officer Michael Peters was suspended Sunday with pay after he was seen off-duty driving a pickup truck bearing a Confederate flag. He was seen near a group protesting Donald Trump’s election as president. The case raises, again, the right of public employees to engage in protected speech in their personal time and private lives.
Protesters around the country have taken to the street in opposition to the decision of millions of their fellow Americans to elect Donald Trump. While his was a fair and free election, the results are clearly unacceptable to the protesters who seem to advocate democratic choice so long as it is their choice.
Some shouted “F–k white America!” I discussed the issue last night on Megyn Kelly on Fox News. (For interview, click here)
Continue reading “American University Students Protest Election By Burning American Flag”
We previously discussed the ridiculous case of prominent Jordanian writer, Nahed Hattar, 56, who was charged with blasphemy for merely sharing this cartoon. The charge was a disgrace for a nation that long prided itself on being a moderate Arab nation. It is increasingly succumbing to extreme Islamic voices and the charges against this writer were a worrisome development. Now he is dead. A man dressed in traditional Islamic garb shot and killed Hattar as he walked outside of the court in Amman.
Continue reading “Prominent Jordanian Writer Murdered Outside of Blasphemy Trial”