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Want to know what is on our minds? Find blog posts written here, by the City Club staff, members, and partners. Every week you can find a new edition of #FreeSpeech in the News — a collection of related stories, commentary, and opinions on free speech in the 21st century that’s making the news. You’ll also find takes on current events, past forums, and issues surrounding Northeast Ohio. Read on for all things City Club.

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Tuesday, September 04, 2018

#FREESPEECH IN THE NEWS: SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Bliss Davis, Content and Programming Coordinator, The City Club of Cleveland

#FREESPEECH IN THE NEWS: SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

As the Citadel of Free Speech here in Cleveland, we work to protect and promote the basis of our democracy by sharing related stories, commentary, and opinions on free speech in the 21st century. Here's what's making the news – and what you should know about – in the past week.


1.) Trump unblocks more Twitter critics after free speech ruling

President Trump is has unblocked additional critics since a federal court ruling found he was violating the constitutional rights of citizens by doing so.

The seven people who filed the suit were unblocked in June. After complaints that other accounts were still blocked, at least 20 others have said they’ve been unblocked out of a total of 41 accounts.

Neil Makhija, a law lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, was among those unblocked.

"I got blocked because I tweeted about President Trump's push to take away health care from millions of Americans, especially those in Pennsylvania who are grappling with the worst of the opioid crisis," he said in a statement.

2.) How police are using face recognition to catch criminals; experts say that's bad for free speech

At a time when artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly used as a tool to keep us safe, experts are beginning to sound the alarm that for all the benefits this technology provides, it could have serious implications for privacy, free speech and racial and gender bias.

These tools, while helpful in many cases, also have the potential to unjustifiably take away the free speech rights of citizens. These tools thus become another hurdle for law enforcement, rather than a breakthrough for catching criminals.

Criticism has even come from within the private companies that develop the technology. Brian Brackeen, CEO of software company Kairos, recently made headlines by saying the face recognition his firm develops is not yet ready for the burden of upholding the law.

3.) Gun Ranges Get Put In Facebook Jail; Is That A Free Speech Issue?

According to Facebook’s policy, it does not allow ads promoting sales of firearms, silencers, other weapons like knives and fireworks, and ads promoting the brandishing of firearms. It does allow things like ads promoting blogs, safety courses and accessories – the latter with limits.

Problem is, when several gun range businesses tried to post “safe” content, those posts were censored as well.

The rights of gun range owners aren't a popular cause, but if Facebook is blocking some of their ads, it might be a free speech issue, said Betsy Page Sigman, professor at the McDonough School of Business.

"Facebook, as a private company, can certainly make these types of decisions," she said. "But, by being censorious, Facebook is expanding the definition of who determines speech in the public square. And we know that around 2/3 of Americans report getting at least some of their news on social media, and much of that is from Facebook.”

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