Nikole Hannah-Jones DENIED tenure for 1619 Project Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-28 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateNikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and lead author of the 1619 Project, was denied tenure at her alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, due to her political beliefs.This sets a terrible precedent for free expression, viewpoint diversity, and academic freedom on campus.FIRE sat down with Jones to discuss her story, and the importance of free speech and academic freedom.
United Nations body: Censor anti-religious speech Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-16 | Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donateThe United Nations Human Rights Council just approved a new resolution about anti-religious expression. It's bad news for free speech.#freespeech #unitednations #unitednationshumanrights
Salomé Sibonex: Free Speech and Finding Yourself Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-11 | FIRE’s Senior Writer & Editor Angel Eduardo sits down with writer, artist, and public intellectual Salomé Sibonex to discuss her past as a woke Communist, her movement toward free speech advocacy, free expression in the arts, and the importance of open debate.Salomé Sibonex is a Cuban American writer and visual artist. Her written work spans the topics of identity — both her own & identity as it functions in society — psychology of the self, & socio-political subjects. Her visual art deals with those things that words cannot — the impulse towards sublime destruction and violence, questions of the metaphysical (what is there, what is not?), spiritualism and mythology as functions of human expression.www.salomesibonex.com
Matt Taibbi Talks Twitter and Free Speech Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-10 | Author and journalist Matt Taibbi talks about Elon, Twitter and the pressures that private companies face when they balance speech restrictions against shareholders. "Before you know it, you have a completely artificial representation of reality."#matttaibbi #twitterfiles #censorship #freespeech
Interns Unboxing in the City of Brotherly Love Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-06 | Ida B. Wells was an incredible advocate for free speech. She was born into slavery in Mississippi in 1862. She would eventually become part-owner of The Memphis Free Speech. The offices of the newspaper were destroyed by an angry mob in 1892 because they were angered by her writings.Ida used her voice at the newspaper to denounce racism and lynchings in the South post-Civil War, and she is an inspiration for all Americans on the power of free speech and using speech for justice.#idabwells#philly#memphis #freespeech #freepress #barbie #barbiedoll #barbiegirl
Matt Taibbi Email Discovery in the Twitter Files Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-05 | Author and journalist Matt Taibbi talks about discovering emails in The Twitter Files and 'Industry Meetings.' #matttaibbi #twitterfiles #censorship #freespeech Part 2 of 2
Matt Taibbi Twitter Files, Censorship & Journalism Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-04 | Author and journalist Matt Taibbi relates discovering emails in The Twitter Files to a discovery scene in 'All the President's Men.'#matttaibbi #twitterfiles #censorship #freespeech Part 1 of 2
Censorship and the Golden age of TV Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-02 | So THIS is why we have a ✨golden age of #television ✨ 📺🤔📡 #hbo #cable #netflix #broadcast #expression #censorship
Matt Taibbi: Free speech, Elon & the Twitter files Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-01 | FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino sits down with journalist Matt Taibbi for a live conversation at Freedom Fest 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee on free speech, social media, the Twitter files, Elon Musk, and the state of modern journalism.
Nadine Strossen talks self-censorship on Fox News! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-08-01 | Former ACLU president Nadine Strossen calls out the left and right for infringing upon right to free speech.#shorts #freespeech #selfcensorship #foxnews
Michael Shermer on engaging controversial speech Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-30 | We might not have all the answers, but having conversations with diverse viewpoints can help us get closer to the truth. Check out this insightful discussion on the importance of free speech with Michael Shermer and FIRE's Angel Eduardo at #FFest23. 🗣️✨
Michael Shermer on the importance of free speech Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-29 | We might not have all the answers, but having conversations with diverse viewpoints can help us get closer to the truth. Check out this insightful discussion on the importance of free speech with Michael Shermer and FIRE's Angel Eduardo at #FFest23. 🗣️✨(Part 1 of 2)
Nikole Hannah-Jones, 1619, and academic freedom Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-28 | Watch the full interview!youtu.be/qhjM-7s-jLY
Ice Cube on cancel culture Piers Morgan Uncensored Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-24 | "Everybody now is watching what they say all the time." - Ice Cube #shorts #icecube #freespeech #piersmorgan #uncensored
Ice Cube speaking truth on Piers Morgan Uncensored Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-21 | "Say what needs to be said at the time it needs to be said."#shorts #icecube #freespeech #piersmorgan #uncensored
Michael Shermer, Free Speech & Skepticism Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-20 | Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donateFIRE’s Senior Writer & Editor Angel Eduardo sits down with author, public intellectual, and noted skeptic Michael Shermer to discuss free expression, free inquiry, conspiracies, RFK Jr., Joe Rogan, skepticism, and what he thinks the biggest threat to free speech is today.Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He writes a weekly Substack column. He is the author of New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain, Why Darwin Matters, The Science of Good and Evil, The Moral Arc, Heavens on Earth, Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist and Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational.skeptic.com/magazineskeptic.com/michael-shermer-showmichaelshermer.substack.commichaelshermer.com/sciam-columns00:00 - 07:16 - Introduction07:16 - 20:03 - Eras of Censorship20:03 - 31:46 - Platforming & Skepticism31:46 - 37:12 - 303 Creative & Disney37:12 - 49:17 - Free Speech Arguments
LAWSUIT: Student suspended after posting memes Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-19 | Read more: thefire.org/news/lawsuit-high-school-student-sues-after-receiving-suspension-posting-campus-cat-memeToday, a 17-year-old rising senior represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued his Tennessee public high school after the principal suspended him for posting memes lampooning the principal for being overly serious.“The First Amendment bars public school employees from acting as a 24/7 board of censors,” said FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick. “As long as a student’s posts do not substantially disrupt school, what teens post on social media on their own time is between them and their parents, not the government.”FIRE’s lawsuit names Tullahoma City Schools, Principal Jason Quick, and Assistant Principal Derrick Crutchfield as defendants and seeks to remove the suspension from the student’s record and halt enforcement of the school’s vague policies.“Administrators cannot wield vague social media policies to punish nondisruptive, off-campus satire,” said FIRE attorney Harrison Rosenthal. “Principal Quick suspended a student over playful memes — but he can’t suspend the First Amendment.”The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them. FIRE is assisted in this case by local counsel Darrick O’Dell of Spicer Rudstrom PLLC.
We are in an anarchical period of information Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-17 | You can't put the genie back in the bottle, but we can put an additional billion eyes on problems today, and we can use this for a powerful force for good.To see Stand Together's full video, click here: youtube.com/watch?v=wQPMvRyUb1Q
VICTORY: Uvalde dad has his rights restored! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-13 | Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donateVICTORY: Uvalde School District backs down after FIRE threatened to sue for the rights of a concerned parent who Uvalde banned from school district property after he spoke out at school board meetings about student safety after the horrific shooting.Adam Martinez, a father of a child present during the Uvalde school shooting, had questions about a new officer the school district had just hired. During a school board meeting, he asked the police chief questions. Minutes later, he was removed and banned from all school property.The parents in Uvalde, Texas have a First Amendment right to criticize their school district's police department. After FIRE threatened a lawsuit, Adam can go back onto school district property, attend school board meetings, and make sure that his voice can be heard just like any other parent.
Daryl Davis Combats Hate through Speech Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-10 | An accomplished blues musician, Daryl Davis has dedicated decades of his life to a mission that defies conventional wisdom. Through the transformative power of conversation, Davis fearlessly takes on the challenging task of convincing members of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups to renounce their deep-seated bigotry.
Greg Lukianoff compares the red scare to today Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-10 | This video, produced by Stand Together, features FIRE President Greg Lukianoff speaking about the rise in recent years in attempts to fire university professors, equating words to violence, and students medicalizing how they speak about people's views with whom they disagree.To see Stand Together's full video, click here: youtube.com/watch?v=wQPMvRyUb1Q
VICTORY: Uvalde School District backs down! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-07 | FIRE threatened to sue for the rights of a concerned parent who Uvalde banned from school property after he spoke out at school board meetings about student safety after the horrific shooting.
Wait, was a cancer survivor really prohibited from having a licenseplate that said FCANCER?! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-06 | Vanity plates are free speech #freespeech #car #vanityplate
Frederick Douglass and the US Constitution Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-04 | Douglass referred to the Constitution as a "glorious liberty document." These words are from his “What, to the slave, is the fourth of July” speech. (1852)
FIREs Greg Lukianoff talks cancel culture Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-07-03 | In this clip produced by Stand Together, FIRE President Greg Lukianoff speaks about the rise in recent years in attempts to fire university professors, equating words to violence, and students medicalizing how they speak about people's views that they disagree with.To see the full video, click here: youtube.com/watch?v=wQPMvRyUb1Q
A Victory for Free Speech! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-30 | In a #victory for #freespeech #scotus rules 6-3 that artists cannot "be conscripted to disseminate the government's preferred messages." ⚖️🔥303 Creative LLC v. Elenis(06/30/2023)#firstamendmentauditor #lgbtq #expression #lawyersofyoutube #lawyer
Killer Mike & Joe Rogan: Dont give into tribalism Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-30 | Joe Rogan welcomed our friend Killer Mike to The Joe Rogan Experience this week, where they chatted about why we can’t use the government as a tool to shut up those we disagree with.#joerogan #podcast #highlight #speech #expression
Cops OWNED by Citizen Journalist Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-30 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateIs it legal to film police? This citizen journalist is about to give two police officers a lesson on the First Amendment. Know your rights, so when you go viral, it's for the right reasons.Transcript:CITIZEN JOURNALIST enters the scene – recording the Cop with his phone. CITIZEN JOURNALIST What the hell is going on here? COP What do you think you’re doing?CITIZEN JOURNALIST Were you shooting a TikTok video?COP That’s none of your concern. Stop filming me or you’ll be arrested.. CITIZEN JOURNALISTI have a First Amendment right to film police, as long as I’m on public property – which this is – and I’m not obstructing or interfering with police activities.COPWell, I’m gonna have to reshoot that whole dance routine again. So, yeah, you are interfering. CITIZEN JOURNALISTDon’t you think you can make better use of your time than TikTok?COPPolice are allowed to exercise our First Amendment rights too. To show citizens like yourself a side of policing they never see.CITIZEN JOURNALIST Nobody wants to see that.COPTell that to my 82 followers.CITIZEN JOURNALIST Ha! How many of those followers are your family?COPPsh. Joke’s on you. I don’t have a family. All I have is the job.CITIZEN JOURNALIST Can I speak to your superior? COPHe’s over there. COPLieutenant! We got a problem! This interrupts the Lieutenant's TikTok. He approaches, pissed-off. LIEUTENANT What’s going on? CITIZEN JOURNALIST I’m just explaining to your officer that I have a right to film you guys. LIEUTENANT Where’s this going? YouTube? TikTok? CITIZEN JOURNALIST That doesn’t matter. LIEUTENANT It matters to me. I have more of a following on YouTube – but we’re more likely to go viral on TikTok.CITIZEN JOURNALISTLook, I’m a citizen journalist, just doing my part to ensure police like yourself are held accountable for their actions.LIEUTENANTYou “Citizen Journalists” – boy, you seem to always journalist the bad stuff police do. CITIZEN JOURNALISTJournalist isn’t a verb – but OK? LIEUTENANTSo now it’s up to us to take it upon ourselves – to exercise our First Amendment rights – to show citizens like yourself a side of policing they never see.CITIZEN JOURNALISTHe already said that.LIEUTENANTThere is a lot that goes into policing. COPThe dance moves.LIEUTENANTThe down-to-earth commentary in our squad cars.COPThe sick b-ball skills.CITIZEN JOURNALISTWhere’d that basketball come from?COPI always bring one. Playing one-on-one with a local kid was the one time I ever went viral. You wanna go?CITIZEN JOURNALISTNah. Look, I thought I was filming you guys on a crime scene, but –LIEUTENANTOh shit, we forgot about the crime.COP Yeah, there’s a dead guy over there. LIEUTENANTHey, could we do another take?
International joke police Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-29 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateThe Malaysian government is upset about a U.S. comedian's joke. And they want Interpol to do something about it.Did you know that Malaysia wants Interpol to be the world’s joke police?It all started when Joceyln Chia, a U.S.-based comedian who grew up in Singapore, discussed the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore during a set at the Comedy Cellar.She cracked a joke about the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, adding that “some jokes don’t land.”Clips of the set went viral on social media, resulting in outrage from internet users and government officials offended by the joke. TikTok took down the video, claiming it violated the app’s hate speech rules.But it didn’t end there. Malaysian police said she’s under investigation for insult, provocation and incitement.And Malaysia’s national police chief also announced that he intended to ask Interpol, which coordinates the international response to criminal matters, to hunt down Chia’s location — in the United States. This isn’t the first time governments have tried to use Interpol to crack down on free speech.Countries including Russia, Turkey, and Iran have weaponized Interpol to track down their critics over the years. Interpol is supposed to fight crime, not free speech. And it’s definitely not supposed to be the global joke police.
FIRE supports student press Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-28 | From our free 24-hour legal hotline to connecting student journalists with pro bono legal help, FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative provides a number of resources to ensure the student press stays free, independent, and legally protected.If you work for a student publication, SPFI’s free resources are there for the taking. Find out more at studentpress.thefire.org.
🤦: “These views are actively violent” Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-27 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateFIRE lawyer Zach Greenberg reacts to a Harvard Law School grad’s TikTok video about recent shout-downs at universities that feature right-wing speakers.While peaceful protest is lawful, the “heckler’s veto” denies students the right to listen to what speakers have to say, and when events are canceled as a result, it denies the rights of students that disagree with these speakers to ask tough questions during Q&A.Transcript:TikTok Video: These are actively violent. Come on, Rachel. If these views were actively violent, they wouldn't be invited to speak at Harvard Law SchoolZach: Today we're going to look at a video trending on TikTok a couple of months ago about the heckler's veto. So this explanation here conflates free speech with the heckler's veto. The heckler's veto is an attempt to disrupt a speaker using violence or other disruptive tactics, to prevent the audience from listening to what the speaker has to say. In this case, a judge, federal judge came to Stanford Law to speak to the students about issues unrelated to homophobia or gay rights.What happened was the heckler's veto. The student shouted down the judge and the dean of the law school came out and said, “This is not okay. We support the right of free speech. We support the right of speakers to come to campus and express their viewpoints, even if they are offensive or annoying.”As the dean said, having the widest array of viewpoints on a law school campus allows lawyers to be the best they can be. It trains legal minds to contest with a wide array of views, and that is an important skill to have if you're going to be a zealous advocate for the viewpoints that you believe in.The First Amendment allows people to protest these speakers, allows them to have their signs, ask them questions, to really have their own events.That is fully protected by the freedom of speech. What The First Amendment does not allow it students to go up to the speaker, to shout them down, to drown them out, and to prevent others from listening to the speech. This speaker also conflates speech with violence. This is a very common technique for censorship. It allows people to de-legitimize ideas that they perceive as violent and open them up to being censored because if ideas are violence, then you can use violence to attack those ideas. You can shut them down and shut the people that say these ideas because they are allegedly violent.But simply ideas that people find disagreeable or offensive, that's speech protected by the First Amendment and by the freedom of speech.Two final points for this. The first is that these are free speech issues. Being shouted down at a law school, having an event where students are unable to hear the speaker because of the heckler’s veto, that is a free speech problem. And the dean and organizations like FIRE and other groups have rightly condemned that as an issue that implicates freedom of speech. It's a free speech problem. Second point is that the speaker talks a lot about prestige and legitimacy. And the First Amendment as a broad general matter, protects speech regardless of how prestigious or legitimate it is. It protects speech that is in the minority, that is unpopular, and that is a good thing. We want to be able to have a full and fair debate about what speech should or should not be allowed under the First Amendment. And that is what The First Amendment protects and that's a good thing.
34 YEARS behind bars ... all for some tweets Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-21 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateFull transcript:Tweets take only seconds to post but, in Saudi Arabia, they can earn you decades in prison. The Kingdom has ramped up its suppression of its critics on social media, jailing activists for what they say on Whatsapp, Twitter, and other apps. A 29 year old women’s rights activist was recently arrested and jailed for Twitter and Snapchat posts calling for an end to the country’s male guardianship system.Last year, another Saudi woman was sentenced to an outrageous thirty four years in prison for retweeting and posting in support of dissidents after she returned from her university in the UK to visit her home country. This censorship campaign has even reached U.S. citizens. An American woman living in Saudi Arabia was temporarily detained, and is now under a travel ban, after tweeting criticisms of the male guardianship system.And another American who was originally sentenced to 19 years in prison last year while visiting the country was released, but is also unable to leave due to a travel ban. In this case, he was arrested for years-old tweets he posted while in the United States that criticized Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses. The warning is clear: What you say in free countries can follow you to unfree ones — and land you in prison.
John Locke walked so the Founding Fathers could run Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-20 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateYou could make the argument that without thinkers like John Locke, there would be no United States. Also known as the “father of liberalism,” he is considered to be one of the most influential Enlightenment philosophers. His ideas were the backbone of America’s founding documents, especially his idea of the state of nature. Locke believed that nature was ruled by reason which taught that “no one ought to harm another in his life, liberty, or possessions.” He believed that these rights were naturally endowed. This concept was later adopted by the Founding Fathers. That’s what’s unique about the American Constitution: it doesn’t give you rights. It says you are born with these rights, and the government can’t take them away from you. America declared her independence from Great Britain 72 years after Locke’s death, but his ideas lit the fuse that would ignite a revolution.#shorts
Journalist SCHOOLS cop on the First Amendment Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-19 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateIn a world without the First Amendment and the New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court decision, it isn’t just journalists who aren’t safe from defamation lawsuits. Do you have a blog? Do you post on social media? Do you leave FIRE comments? Thanks to free speech protections, we have the freedom to criticize the powerful and public figures without fear – but without Sullivan, anyone who exercises those rights could leave themselves open to lawsuits. Honest mistakes should not be punished, but critics should not be silenced, and that is why we must fight to protect the First Amendment and Sullivan. Further reading:Two Justices Say Supreme Court Should Reconsider Landmark Libel Decision:nytimes.com/2021/07/02/us/supreme-court-libel.htmlWhy New York Times v. Sullivan matters more than ever:thefire.org/news/why-new-york-times-v-sullivan-matters-more-everJournalist - Dave LansonDetective - Rob McCaskillTranscript:JOURNALISTOfficer, are the handcuffs really necessary?DETECTIVEI’ve seen the damage you can do when you have the use of both your hands. This is for my protection. JOURNALISTWhat are you talking about? I’m a journalist. DETECTIVEYou’re a butcher: typing away on your keyboard, emailing your publisher, waiting for those retweets… And you don’t care who you hurt along the way! JOURNALISTI’m just doing my job.DETECTIVEYour job? What’s that: tearing down an important man like [*BEEP BEEP*]? In these unprecedented times, he’s doing the best he can! JOURNALISTThat’s … your opinion. DETECTIVEYou’re damn right it is! But I got no byline. People don’t pick my opinions up at the newsstand on their way to work…JOURNALISTNobody buys newspapers anymore.DETECTIVELittle kids don’t stand on the corner pushing my thoughts on the unsuspecting public, “Late Edition Lies! Get your Late Edition Lies! Hot off the presses!”JOURNALISTHow old are you?DETECTIVEAll’s I got is a Facebook no one comments on –JOURNALISTOK...DETECTIVEAnd a TikTok I’m still trying to figure out. You on TikTok?JOURNALISTNo. Look, [*BEEP BEEP*] is a public figure. He’s not immune from criticism. DETECTIVECriticism? Psh. You murdered his reputation. First degree. JOURNALISTWhat?DETECTIVEI got all I need to charge you with defamation.JOURNALISTYou can’t just use your political and financial power to bully critics into silence. DETECTIVESounds like a challenge. I got all day – I’ll pull in overtime on this one.JOURNALISTI shouldn’t even be here, man. There’s a thing called the First Amendment.DETECTIVEI’ve heard of it. JOURNALISTAnd New York Times v. Sullivan.DETECTIVEDoesn’t ring a bell. Must be new. JOURNALIST1964, actually. Landmark Supreme Court decision. DETECTIVEYou sure about that? I should probably fact-check you. Because in your “reporting” you got some things wrong. We’re talking libelous wrongs. JOURNALISTI take responsibility for my errors – but they weren’t intentional. To prove libel, it would have to be shown that I knew at the time they were false or recklessly disregarded the truth. Which is a pretty high bar to clear.DETECTIVESounds like it protects careless reporting.JOURNALISTHey, nobody's perfect. That's why the law doesn't punish honest mistakes. Otherwise journalists and others would shy away from holding government accountable. I’m sure if I was criticizing someone whose politics you didn’t like, you’d feel differently about this.DETECTIVEBut you didn’t. Did you? JOURNALISTI’m sure there’s another reporter out there who is.DETECTIVEGet him in here.JOURNALISTUncuff me.DETECTIVENever.JOURNALISTNever?DETECTIVEWell… maybe in like ten minutes.JOURNALISTThis is ridiculous.DETECTIVEThat Sullivan case is what’s ridiculous! And if that’s ever overturned, it’s gonna really suck for you.JOURNALISTIt’s gonna suck for everyone.DETECTIVENot that little kid on the street corner. Making a nickel a day, pushing your lies. He’ll finally be free from your control. Free to dance.JOURNALISTOK, so you just saw the movie Newsies.DETECTIVEYou know it didn’t even get nominated for Best Picture? Defamation.JOURNALISTThat’s not defamation.
“I cannot believe I’m watching this” Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-18 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateFIRE lawyer Adam Steinbaugh reacts to a police officer arresting Damon Atkins, a street preacher, protesting a gay pride event in Reading, PA.Full transcript:Adam Steinbaugh: Hi, I'm Adam Steinbaugh. I'm an attorney at FIRE.Today, we're going to look at the arrest of a street preacher outside of a pride event in Reading, Pennsylvania.Recording:I came out and got to preach for about 12 minutes before a cop got in my face, laid hands on me, and threatened to arrest me if I didn't stop.Of course, I don't have my GoPro camera with me because I wasn't coming out, had no idea this was happening. I just happened to drive by it. Adam Steinbaugh: So here we have Damon Atkins. He's a street preacher, and he's just walking up to this pride event for the first time.In the police report that ultimately follows, there's nothing indicating that anything happens outside of what's caught on this camera. So let's continue.Recording: This is public property.Let them have their day.This is public property.Ok, well then respect them.Oh, I’m respecting them.Let them have their day.You know who’s chearing for us? The people that are in hell.So you do you, and I’m going to do me. This is public property.Adam Steinbaugh: So here you have the police officer telling him, “Let them have their day. Be respectful.” A cop can say that.A cop can encourage you to be respectful, but the First Amendment doesn't require you to respect anyone.Recording: God is not ...That's it. You're done.Getting this on film.Adam Steinbaugh: What happens here is the word “God” leaves his lips, and he's speaking at about the same volume as the rest of the crowd.He's not speaking at a volume differently than anyone else. But the moment that he exhibits that he is going to utter words that can be heard across the street, that are at least in the officer’s construction of things offensive to the people across the street, the officer B lines toward him.And from that moment, the moment that the word “God” left his lips, Damon Atkins was destined for handcuffs.Recording: I cannot believe I'm watching this.Adam Steinbaugh: So the police handcuff him, they arrest him, and he's ultimately charged with disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor.This isn't disorderly conduct. He hadn't disrupted anything. In fact, the event hadn't even started yet. After he's in handcuffs, you can hear the speaker over the microphone saying, “Okay, let's begin.”So if he's not disrupting anything, what is this?Well, this is speech protected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment means that people get to engage in expression that other people on the street and maybe even police officers find offensive. That doesn't mean that you should wind up in handcuffs just because you say something that offends someone else.But that's not how things played out in Reading. Ultimately, the D.A. looked at the video here and the body camera and the law and agreed that this is obviously not disorderly conduct. And they wound up dropping the charges. But that should not be the end of the story.
Eleanor Roosevelt was an OG free-speech fighter Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-16 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateMore than 70 years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt advocated against hate speech restrictions in front of the United Nations, emphasizing how subjective the concept of hate speech is. "It is...difficult to differentiate between the different shades of feeling, ranging from hatred to ill-feeling and mere dislike," she said. She warned that prohibiting so-called "hate speech" could open the door to all sorts of abuses of power.She was ahead of her time. Even today the debate around whether hate speech is free speech rages on. We could learn a thing or two from what Eleanor Roosevelt had to say.Jacob Mchangama’s book Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media: amazon.com/Free-Speech-History-Socrates-Social/dp/1541600495
What’s The Stanford Effect? Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-14 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateFIRE’s Alex Morey was quoted in the New York Times this year, talking about “the Stanford Effect” on college campuses. But what does “the Stanford Effect” mean? It all started on March 9 when Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan of the Fifth Circuit was heckled at a Federalist Society event at Stanford Law. The hecklers were enabled and emboldened by Stanford administrators.The shoutdown made national headlines and reignited the conversation about the role of free speech on college campuses. Two days after the shoutdown, Stanford Law Dean Jenny Martinez and University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne apologized to Duncan for the university’s failure to uphold its own policies. It didn’t go over well.Following intense backlash, Dean Martinez doubled down in a 10-page tour-de-force on free speech in higher education and announced mandatory free speech training for students.thefire.org/news/stanford-law-school-dean-makes-powerful-commitment-free-expression-after-shout-downSince Stanford Law’s stand for free speech on campuses, other colleges and universities across the country have followed suit in defending free expression.That same week, the Cornell Student Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution urging the admin to require content warnings before “triggering” material. In response, Cornell’s President and Provost swiftly rejected the mandate. “Learning to engage with difficult and challenging ideas is a core part of a university education,” they wrote. A few days later, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi released a video statement supporting “even speech that tests the limits of tolerance.”In the wake of the Stanford controversy, have colleges and universities have become emboldened to reject the illiberal winds gusting over the past decade? We hope so.
Sorry Swifties! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-12 | Sorry #swifties , @TheOnion really can do THAT to #taylorswift. #taylornation #swift #parody #sketch Actress: @two-fingeredt-rex7902
Chinas Comedy Crackdown Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-07 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateHow much is a joke worth? In China, it can cost two million dollars — and may come with prison time. That may be the consequence for a comedian who compared dogs chasing a squirrel with the Chinese military's work ethic during a stand up set.
Book Police in small-town Illinois Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-05 | Police seize books after complaints about #lgbtq book.#freespeech pridemonth #library #k12 #illinois #crimetoks
This commencement speech shocked listeners Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-04 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateFIRE lawyer Zach Greenberg reacts to a student-selected speaker who criticized Israel, the university, capitalism, and more in her May 12 law school commencement speech.Link to the full commencement speech:memri.org/tv/sjp-activist-fatima-mohammed-cuny-law-school-commencement-speech-america-israel-empire-destruction
Body Cams in the Office? Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-06-03 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateFIRE has expanded its mission to defend free speech on and off campus. That includes filming police.But body cams in the office?Um... Here's a look behind the scenes of the world's premiere Free Speech defenders.
Can you ban drag? Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-31 | Got more questions about #freespeech? Then #lawyerup!Ask your question in the comments!#conlaw #lawyer #firstamendmentlaw
Tiananmen Massacre Books Censored Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-26 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateAs China’s control extends over Hong Kong, libraries are purging political books — including information about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Feelings do NOT supersede free speech! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-26 | Bill Maher is right: Feelings do not supersede free speech! #billmaher #drphil
VICTORY at NYC College Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-25 | Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donateQuoting Eminem’s 8 Mile shouldn’t get a professor’s class canceled, and thankfully Barnard College agrees.During a Culture in America class session in October 2021, Professor Jon Rieder, in discussing a scene in the movie 8 Mile, quoted a black character’s rap lyrics.Three students filed a Title IX complaint against Jon Rieder. After meeting with the students.Barnard determined Rieder’s expression did not meet the threshold for discriminatory harassment and that there was no basis for further investigation.However, after being called into a series of meetings by Barnard's administration, Rieder was notified in March 2022 that the "Culture in America" course was officially canceled. Now, in an exciting victory, the class has been reinstated after FIRE published an article exposing Barnard's attack on Rieder's academic freedom.
Saluting free speech wins on and off campus Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-22 | FIRE Senior Fellow and former ACLU President Nadine Strossen takes the stage at the FIRE Gala to showcase individuals that have challenged the status quo, shared unpopular opinions, and with FIRE’s help, bravely stood up for their free speech rights — therefore promoting EVERYONE’s speech rights.Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donate
Worst mascot competition … EVER! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-20 | FIRE has expanded its mission to defend free speech on and off campus. That means looking for a new mascot. Should it be an alien? A cute dog? Should the mascot be on fire? Here's a funny look behind the scenes of the world's premiere Free Speech defenders.Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donate
Can Montana BAN TikTok? Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-19 | Leading First Amendment lawyer and FIRE’s new Chief Counsel Robert Corn-Revere talks about the new Montana law SB 419 which seeks to ban TikTok. The law prohibits “a mobile application store from offering the TikTok application to Montana users.” How does this square with the United States Constitution and the First Amendment?Support FIRE today: thefire.org/donate
You cant ban TikTok! Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2023-05-19 | You can’t ban TikTok just because you’re scared of china.
