Okay, so let’s think about #FreeSpeech in the case of #TPL’s decision to let the Meghan Murphy event go ahead. But let’s think about it in a deeper way, not the shallow three-cheers approach of Marcus Gee. 1/
It’s the big mistake of many shallow ra-ra-ra #FreeSpeech takes that they train their sights entirely on a few high-profile speakers who are well-known not only for their often hateful ideas, but also for their efforts to turn the dissemination of these ideas into a career. 2/
Marcus Gee positions Vickery Bowles as a defender of free speech and Meghan Murphy as a speaker whose speech needs the protection of the Toronto Public Library. 3/ 
However, this a lopsided perspective on freedom of expression. Vickery Bowles, as the head of #TPL, is employer to over 2000 library workers. We know from the library union's open letter that many of these workers don't agree with the #TPL decision. 4/
local4948.org/our-members.ht…
local4948.org/our-members.ht…
Bowles' stance in relation to these workers' concerns over letting Meghan Murphy speak at a #TPL branch is, "that attention be turned away from the room booking issue and redirected to civil debate with the speaker’s ‘ideas.’" Okay. 5/
Beyond the union's collective letter, how many of these individual library workers feel secure enough in their jobs that they will speak out publicly--that they make use of their freedom of expression--against not only Meghan Murphy's ideas but also their employers' decision? 6/
Or, in other words, what's the state of #freespeech for the #TPL workers who disagree with the library board's decision? 7/
@threadreaderapp unroll
