By Angele Latham, BrieAnna J. Frank, Taylor Seely, Stephany Matat, and Cate Charron NASHVILLE − There’s turmoil over the state of free speech in America. The issue took center stage as free speech advocates, lawyers and experts from around the world convened recently at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Conversations at the Global Free Speech Summit, […]
By Kevin M. Spivak One-sided censorship A decline in support for free speech and an increase in support for violence to suppress opposing views go hand in hand in authoritarian regimes. According to a recent report from Vanderbilt University’s the Future of Free Speech project, over the past decade, the number of countries limiting speech […]
By Angele Latham According to the new data, if colleges and universities were being graded on their policies upholding the First Amendment, the average grade across the country would be failing. But two Tennessee universities, Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, scored remarkably well, ranking in the top 20 on […]
By Jacob Mchangama Growing up in Denmark in the early 2000s, I rarely worried about my right to free speech. In this cozy haven of liberal values and secular democracy, speaking freely felt as natural as breathing. Few contested this state of affairs, least of all religious groups, whose influence had long since faded. That […]
By Ebenezer Obadare As a paradigm for the contemporary travails of free thought and freedom of worship, the ongoing saga of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu would be infuriating if it were not so depressing. The Nigerian musician, an adherent of the Tijaniyya Sufi Islamic order, has been running the legal gauntlet since he was first arrested in March 2020 for […]
By Katerina Nicolaou Natalie Alkiviadou, Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University (USA), argues in her new book that the European Court of Human Rights has become too restrictive on freedom of expression, often backing governments in silencing speech that is merely offensive. Alkiviadou, an expert on free expression, hate speech […]
By Jacob Mchangama In 1742 David Hume boasted that: “Nothing is more apt to surprise a foreigner than the extreme liberty which we enjoy in this country of communicating whatever we please to the public”. Voltaire saw 18th-century Britain as a paradise of tolerance and freedom that stood in stark contrast to despotic France. Today […]
By Tyler Katzenberger Ed Howard, a lawyer and policy advocate at the University of San Diego Children’s Advocacy Institute (which is sponsoring SB 771), told POLITICO that Pratt’s claims about the bill are “180 degrees from what the bill does.” [ . . . ] Howard said SB 771 only punishes platforms if their content […]
By Benedict Neff Collective mental hygiene When political views are banned or canceled, distrust of the state grows. The ruling elite exposes itself to suspicion of wanting to fend off critical individuals and opinions. The COVID-19 era is a lesson in this regard. In some countries, governments and the media have marginalized anti-vaccine activists and […]
By Jonathan Shorman [ . . . ] Two days after Kirk’s assassination, Rokita urged his followers on X to submit to him any evidence of educators or school administrators celebrating or rationalizing the killing. He wrote that they must be held accountable and “have no place teaching our students.” But Rokita has also said […]