Monday, October 01, 2018
#FREESPEECH IN THE NEWS: OCTOBER 1, 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.) Terrorist Bus Ad Is Protected Free Speech, Ninth Circuit Finds
The Ninth Circuit out of Washington state has ruled that an anti-Muslim group’s free speech rights were violated when King County Metro refused to run their ads.
The ads displayed the names and headshots of 16 purported terrorists for a campaign titled, “Faces of Global Terrorism.” The headshots only featured individuals of Middle Eastern and Asian descent. When King County Metro refused to run the initially permitted ads, the American Freedom Defense Initiative filed suit.
The AFDI modeled the placard on a State Department ad that ran on King County buses for three weeks before the department voluntarily removed it due to community concerns over racial profiling.
2.) Warning to tech firms raises free-speech fears
The U.S. Justice Department has spoken out with a statement regarding tech companies’ stance on using their platforms with regards to free speech.
The two-sentence statement, which did not elaborate on the allegation or explicitly threaten legal action, echoed tweets by Trump last week claiming that the technology industry was biased against conservatives. The White House later threatened new regulation of the search giant Google, a move that legal experts said would violate constitutional protections on free speech.
Outside legal experts, meanwhile, expressed concern that the rising political pressure over unproven allegations of bias will chill constitutionally protected speech by technology companies.
"This could be a very serious broadside against the entire Internet industry coordinated by multiple layers of government," said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley.
3.) Colin Kaepernick's Nike Ad Almost Didn't Happen
The Nike ad featuring Colin Kaepernick almost didn’t happen, according to a spokesman with the company.
Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality, social inequality and racism in 2016. Other athletes followed suit in protest, and the demonstrations led to Kaepernick going unsigned for the 2017 NFL season.
Nike ultimately tapped Kaepernick as the face of its 30th anniversary ‘Just Do It’ ad campaign. His face appears with the words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Chief Executive Mark Parker said on a recent earnings call, “We feel very good and proud of the work that we’re doing. It’s driving a real uptick in traffic and engagement, both socially and commercially.”