Friday, July 29, 2016
#FreeSpeech in the News: July 29, 2016
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.
“This summer, we have all witnessed the heavy hand of government intervening in the freedom of speech, as the behavior of the Secret Service at both the Republican convention in Cleveland and the Democratic convention in Philadelphia has been troubling and unconstitutional.”
An Unconventional Abridgement of Free Speech, The Washington Times
“Freedom of speech is for students of all ideologies and political persuasions, and for students advocating for all manner of causes. If a university can censor the speech of one group for not aligning with its preferred values, then that is cause for concern among all students regardless of how popular they think their current cause is with the administration.”
How Campus Activism Helped Me Gain a Greater Appreciation for Freedom of Speech, FIRE
“In 2015, Facebook took down 431 pieces of content that it said violated harassment laws or denied the Holocaust, which is against the law in Israel. And Facebook’s report on government requests shows that last year, Facebook handed over user data to Israeli authorities for about 60 percent of the 468 requests it received.”
Critics Fear Crackdown on Palestinian Free Speech as Israel Takes Aim at Facebook, The Intercept
“Since Yelp was founded in 2004, we’ve made it our business to help protect consumer free speech. Consumers have the right to share their opinions about their experiences with businesses, but there will always be a small handful of businesses who mistakenly think it’s a good idea to threaten consumers who exercise their free speech rights. As a result, we started a new type of Consumer Alert to warn people about businesses that issue questionable legal threats.”
Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Customers, Yelp
