Tag: Free speech

Can the First Amendment keep up with the brave new world of machine manufactured misinformation?

The point of the First Amendment is to protect expression people hate – Nazi protesters in Skokie, anti-war protesters burning the American flag, KKK hooligans in an Ohio farmfield, Christian fundamentalists protesting the burial of American soldiers. Tolerance for the speech we despise is the lesson of 232 years of the First Amendment. Yet the…

Wash U chancellor harms free speech by embracing College Republicans’ 9/11 message while ignoring hateful attacks on student protester

Washington University has condemned student Fadel Alkilani for removing some of the 2,977 American flags that the College Republicans placed on Mudd Field this past weekend to commemorate the victims of the 9-11 attacks.  In a statement issued Sunday, Chancellor Andrew Martin declared that Alkilani’s action impeded “the free exchange of ideas.” The university is…

Iowa State ‘tweetstorm’ shows how Free Speech is stretched on college campuses seeking to allow diverse opinions

College Republicans at Iowa State University tweeted after the November presidential election that students should “arm up” and later encouraged students to show up to “Stop the Steal rallies” in Des Moines and Washington, DC. The university has refused to comment on the tweets encouraging students to participate in the Jan. 6 insurrection in DC…