We defend and promote free speech for all Americans in our courtrooms, on our campuses, and in our culture.
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Aug 19 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: FIRE is suing to stop the SCOPE Act—a Texas law forcing websites to collect adults’ IDs or biometric data before they can access material “harmful to minors.”
Put another way, Texas is treating its adults like children.2/ The SCOPE Act also restricts minors’ access to online content that Texas claims is “harmful material” because it “promotes, glorifies, or facilitates” behaviors such as suicide, drug abuse, bullying, harassment, or sexual exploitation.
Aug 14 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
STATEMENT: Writing about the “boycott, divestment, and sanctions” (BDS) movement against Israel nearly a decade ago, FIRE's @glukianoff argued that academic boycotts of a nation’s institutions or scholars cannot be reconciled with academic freedom.
FIRE’s position has not changed, nor will it.2/ As Hank Reichman, former chair of the American Association of University Professors’ Committee A once argued, “the whole idea of boycotting academic institutions in order to defend academic freedom is utterly wrongheaded.”
Aug 13 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
WOODROW WILSON may be America’s WORST-EVER president on free speech.
As president, Wilson weaponized fear of spies during WWI to silence critics, arrest suffragists, and even weaponize the postal service. 🧵2/ Although Wilson was hardly a stout defender of the First Amendment in his first term, it wasn’t until the USA entered WORLD WAR I in 1917 that his censorship program began.
Aug 8 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
“There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech and especially around our democracy.”
Yes, there is. It’s called the First Amendment.
You might’ve heard the words “misinformation” and “disinformation” thrown around by political figures from the left, right, and center.
This viral clip from 2023 features Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for Vice President, talking about misinformation.
But sadly, calls to censor “misinformation” and “disinformation” are bipartisan these days.
But the answer isn’t censorship — it’s more speech.
In a liberal democracy, there’s only one solution to the problems of “misinformation” and “disinformation”: judging the truth for ourselves.
An informed citizenry that can separate fact from fiction without the heavy hand of government regulation is what separates democracy from dictatorship.
Because the alternative is to trust the government to decide the truth for us.
And FIRE data shows Americans don’t want that.
The third installment of FIRE’s National Speech Index found that roughly six out of ten Democrats, Republicans, and independents do not trust the government “at all” to decide what speech is hateful or false.
Each day, the American people face the all-important task of perpetuating self-government through reflection, debate, and choice.
Free speech is the most effective tool we have at our disposal to inform ourselves.
If the government obtains the power to suppress protected speech as “hateful” or “misinformation,” make no mistake: that power will be abused.
Nobody — not Democrats, not Republicans, and not independents — will be safe from censorship.
As we’ve said before, free speech makes free people.
The freer the speech, the freer the people.
Curious to see how America’s free speech sentiments shift over time?
Explore FIRE’s National Speech Index for new quarterly data, breaking down how and why 69% of Americans think we’re on the wrong track when it comes to free speech. thefire.org/news/survey-sh…
Aug 6 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
Free speech hero DEMOSTHENES fought an epic battle against conquering king Philip II of Macedon.
Demosthenes used his voice; Philip the sword.
Despite personal danger, The orator spent his life reminding Athens of its duty to defend democracy in the face of tyranny. 🧵2/ By 384 BC when Demosthenes was born, the Greek city-state of Athens was no longer in its prime. The Athenians lacked confidence after crushing military defeats first by the Persians and then by the Spartans. The city’s distinctive democracy had even disappeared for a time.
Jul 1 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: Should the government have the power to dictate the opinions you see on social media?
If you said “hell no,” then we’ve got good news: The Supreme Court agrees.2/ This morning, the Court rejected the idea that the government can force social media companies to host certain speech on their platforms, even if they don’t want to.
That’s a big win for free speech and a free internet.
This morning, the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed a foundational First Amendment principle: “A government official cannot coerce a private party to punish or suppress disfavored speech on her behalf.”
The Court held the @NRA plausibly alleged New York state officials violated the First Amendment by coercing financial institutions to abandon the group to punish it for its advocacy.
The Court’s decision is a resounding win for the First Amendment.2/ “The coercive tactics used by New York officials were a naked attempt to evade the Constitution,” said Robert Corn-Revere, FIRE’s chief counsel.“The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision sends a clear message that the government cannot use its bully pulpit to censor speech it doesn’t like without violating the First Amendment. Today’s decision is a major victory for free expression and the rule of law.”
May 28 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: In a major win for free speech and academic freedom, @Harvard announced it will no longer make “official statements of empathy” about policy issues.2/ As the full report from the faculty-led “Institutional Voice” working group says, “The purpose of the university is to pursue truth. In that pursuit, the university as an institution can never be neutral, because we believe in the value of seeking truth through open inquiry, debate, and weighing the evidence, as opposed to mere assertion or unjustified belief. . . .
The university and its leaders should not, however, issue official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core function.”
May 14 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
The University of Texas at San Antonio reportedly banned student protestors from:
• Using the words ‘Zionism’ and ‘Israel’;
• Chanting "From the river to the sea;"
• Speaking in Arabic.
It's unconstitutional censorship, plain and simple.
FIRE wrote @UTSA to demand that it reassure students that the First Amendment protects these words, phrases, and languages.
A public university should jump at the chance to show its commitment to the First Amendment, but UTSA ignored us.
So we wrote them again. 2/ UTSA appeared on FIRE’s radar after reports indicated an administrator directed pro-Palestinian protestors to avoid using terms officials deemed “antisemitic hate speech,” apparently in an attempt to abide by Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 27 Executive Order.
May 7 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Dartmouth’s president will work with officials to drop all charges against two student journalists arrested last week while covering campus protests.
FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative, the @SPLC, and more than a dozen press-rights organizations wrote a coalition letter to Dartmouth earlier this afternoon condemning the arrests.2/ “[A]rresting journalists engaged in legitimate newsgathering sets a dangerous precedent, harms the public’s right to know, and defies Dartmouth’s commitments to students’ expressive and press rights,” FIRE’s coalition letter said.
Apr 19 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
🧵: A Berkeley bash turned into a constitutional clash when students attending a private dinner party transformed the event into a protest, sparking debate over the limits of First Amendment freedoms.
Luckily, FIRE knows something about the 1A 🔥 thefire.org/news/no-berkel…2/ And so did the host. @UCBerkeleyLaw dean Erwin Chemerinsky is a staunch free speech advocate and renowned 1A scholar.
Apr 17 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
We watched today’s congressional hearing on anti-Semitism: Here are our big takeaways:
Columbia’s leaders told lawmakers they’re investigating or have already disciplined multiple students and faculty for what appears to be speech protected by the university’s policies and commitments. FIRE is looking into these alarming revelations.
As always, FIRE will defend any student or professor investigated or punished for simply exercising their right to free expression or academic freedom. 🧵
2/ Columbia’s leaders said calls for genocide would violate university policy. But there are good reasons why the First Amendment — and Columbia’s substantially similar free speech promises — generally protect even “calls for genocide.”
When protestors tried shouting down an Israeli prof’s lecture at @unlv, campus police erroneously claimed they couldn’t remove the disruptors. So they canceled the event instead, free speech be damned.
This “heckler’s veto” has no place at a public university bound by the 1A. 2/ A physics department lecture by @ubarilan Professor Asaf Peer at @unlv quickly turned into a shouting match when protestors entered the venue and began yelling about Peer’s ties to Israel, accusing him of supporting genocide. jpost.com/breaking-news/…
Dec 20, 2023 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
🧵: In every crisis is an opportunity.
As confidence in higher ed reaches historic lows, it is time for campus leaders to re-establish their institutions as communities devoted to the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge.
Here’s where they should start ⬇️
1. Stay true to the college’s mission
The search for knowledge is at the center of higher education’s purpose.
When controversy strikes, institutions must reflect on their truth-seeking mission and use it to ground their response. College leaders who stray from their institution’s mission and try to please everybody, please nobody.
Dec 13, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
🧵: A group of @Penn faculty just released a new vision for the university after President Liz Magill’s resignation.
When it comes to free expression and academic freedom, there‘s a lot to like. ⬇️ 2/ Staying true to the principles that Benjamin Franklin founded the institution on in 1749, Penn’s “new future” recommits itself to academic freedom and free speech according to both 1A precedent and its limited exceptions.
Dec 8, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: FIRE wrote @Penn, urging in the strongest possible terms to stand by its free speech commitments and reject efforts to revise its free speech promises to punish expression protected by 1A standards.
2/ As FIRE has said, speech codes depend on the exercise of double standards. Though today’s speech restrictions may intend to protect Jewish students, there is no telling how university admins will apply them in the future.
In 2020, Isabel Vinson started a public debate on social media about a local Vermont business owner who was criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Weeks later, the police came knocking and charged her with a crime. 2/ The charge? "Disturbing the peace by electronic communication": A Vermont statute that bans using the internet to “annoy” or “harass” in ways that are “indecent,” or “disturb” or "intimidate" another–with NO regard to the speaker's intent.
Sep 13, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
FIRE is investigating reports about the substantial disruption of an event at Washington College last week featuring professor @McCormickProf, where college security allegedly stood by as protesters forced the event to end early. stardem.com/news/local_new…2/ Peaceful, non-disruptive protests of campus events are a vital form of student expression. But when protesters effect a heckler’s veto — disrupt an event to the point where it cannot continue — that’s not “more speech”.
VICTORY: Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed FIRE’s preliminary injunction against Clovis Community College, forcing the college to abandon its unconstitutional speech code that resulted in the suppression of students’ viewpoints. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…2/ In November 2021, three @yaf members received permission from administrators to hang three flyers on bulletin boards inside Clovis’s academic buildings. The flyers advocated for freedom and listed the death tolls of authoritarian regimes.
Jul 19, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
BREAKING: FIRE sues high school on behalf of student suspended for reposting a cat meme satirizing the principal during summer vacation. We’re suing to remind the principal that he can’t suspend the First Amendment. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…2/ The cat meme was one of three satirical memes the student shared on his personal Instagram. The second depicted the principal holding a box of vegetables and the third showed the principal as a video game character being hugged by a cartoon bird.
Jun 30, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Today’s decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis is a resounding victory for freedom of expression and freedom of conscience. The Court’s opinion reaffirms decades of precedent protecting our First Amendment rights to speak and think free of government compulsion. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…2/ Freedom of conscience is a fundamental individual right: The First Amendment protects our right not to speak, too, and the government cannot force Americans to voice its preferred message on pain of punishment.