Tuesday, January 03, 2017
#FreeSpeech in the News: Jan. 3, 2017
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 - this week.
“Israeli courts could demand that companies such as Facebook Inc. remove content deemed as incitement, under a bill that will head for parliamentary approval amid concerns about free speech.”
Israeli Ministers Approve ‘Facebook Law’ Against Web Incitement, Bloomberg
“You can’t creatively legislate to make my freedom of speech go away.”
South Euclid Council discussion issues of free speech, Cleveland.com
“Government employees, like police officers, should be particularly cautious around social media, because they don’t have the same First Amendment protections as other private citizens.”
NYPD officers’ Snapchats not a free speech issue, CNN
“With the rise across America of campus protests, commencement speaker dis-invitations, “safe spaces,” “micro-aggressions,” and deprivations of free speech generally, the public is beginning to learn just how intolerant a growing number of colleges and universities have become.”
A Marxist Education in ‘Hypersensitivity’ As A Cause of Violence on American Campuses, Forbes
“This incident has been defended by some as an act of protected speech… It is not. It is an act of defilement that is deeply offensive to the memory of those who died on September 11th. And it violates the free speech of others, a principal we must hold dear as members of an educational community.”
Occidental College Tries To Heal Campus Wounds After Attack on 9/11 Flag Memorial, Forbes
“The only unfailing defense of freedom of inquiry in the Academy, as well as of freedom of speech and press in politics, is that such liberty is an indispensable means of discovering the Truth. Moreover, the best defense of academic freedom rests on the conviction that the quest for wisdom is the highest human activity.”
Sad To Say, The ‘Chicago Principles’ Defending Academic Freedom Do Not Go Far Enough, Forbes
“To fix this loophole, Congress should pass the SPEAK FREE Act (H.R. 2304) – bipartisan legislation that would address the patchwork of often contradictory state laws and provide a national standard to protect online freedom of speech by creating a special motion to dismiss.”
A national law needed to protect online freedom of speech, The Hill
“Universities will need to choose whether they are on the side of free expression and academic debate, or on the side of the racist mob.”
Another university flunks the free-speech test, Los Angeles Times
“The New York Times has recently decried in an editorial the restrictions imposed by the Algerian military regime on free speech and the ill-treatment reserved to journalists and media outlets that venture to voice opposition to the government.”
New York Times Decries Algeria’s Authoritarian Crackdown on Free Speech, The North Africa Post
“Clearly, not all speech should be free, especially in closed environments like colleges and universities where bullied students have nowhere to turn if their administrators don’t protect them.”
Campus Free-Speech Intimidators Shielded, The Wall Street Journal
“Treating anti-Semitism as a problem of free speech is like treating an outbreak of mumps as a problem of cosmetics. Responsible authorities are required to check injurious epidemics.”
Free Speech and Anti-Semitism, The Wall Street Journal
“2016 saw the courts being tested on a range of issues concerning the freedom of expression. It was a year in which cases of sedition and defamation and of censorship of films and other arts reached record numbers.”
Free Speech in the Courts: The Significant Legal Outcomes of 2016, The Wire
