Over the last two months I have written extensively on the many ways in which the evolving and globalizing world of the Internet is shifting away from being the flag bearer of free-for-all freedom of speech and towards a moderated commercial enterprise that must mediate among conflicting global standards on acceptable speech and online conduct. What does this mean for the future of the Internet?
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Read More… from Editorial: Is The Internet Evolving Away From Freedom of Speech?
A judge in Palm Beach County has ordered a Florida newspaper to unpublish material from its website, sparking an outraged response from media lawyers who say the order is a clear First Amendment violation and contrary to established precedent on prior restraint.
Circuit Judge Jack Schramm Cox ordered The Palm Beach Post to remove from its website transcripts of telephone recordings in which a jailhouse snitch bragged about his ability to elicit confessions from fellow inmates and how he had arranged a deal with prosecutors for a lighter sentence.
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Read More… from Judge forces Florida paper to unpublish information
For journalists — especially those working in the realm of opinion — it's hard not to take the attack on the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hedbo personally.
As a result, each of the editorial cartoonists regularly featured in the Post-Bulletin have weighed in on the subject. Charlie Hedbo was likely best known in the United States for featuring satirical depictions of religions, most notably featuring Muhammad, a fact that had produced threats from Muslim extremists.
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Read More… from Randy Petersen: Freedom of expression comes with a fine line
On a Friday night in early August, Prof. Corey Robin put out a call on his blog. There had been plenty of grumbling over the University of Illinois's decision to revoke a job offer to Prof. Steven G. Salaita, who gained notoriety for incendiary tweets about Israel. But it had not been enough to persuade the university to reinstate Professor Salaita. So Professor Robin, a political theorist at the City University of New York's Brooklyn College, ratcheted up the pressure.
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Read More… from Organizing to Defend a Professor’s Freedom of Speech
Jon Daniel was watching cartoons with one of his sons when he created a spoof Twitter account in the name of the Peoria mayor. Out of boredom, he said, he soon began sending profane messages about sex, drugs and alcohol.
Daniel never intended for the fake account to be seen by anyone other than his friends, and it never attracted more than a few dozen followers. But within weeks the raunchy parody led to a police raid of his home and ignited a debate about online satire, free speech and the limits of a mayor's power.
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Read More… from Fake Tweets’ Aftermath Stirs Debate About Satire, Freedom of Speech
From The Bellingham Herald:
Nearly fifty years ago a middle-school student and her friends set a major free speech case into motion by wearing a black armband to school to protest the Vietnam war.
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Read More… from Sunshine week celebrates Washington’s right to open public records
From Project on Government Oversight:
The U.S. Senate was on the verge of passing a bill that would have increased government secrecy, put whistleblowers in jeopardy, and made government less accountable. Thankfully, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon stood up for our freedom of speech and put a hold on this bill.
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From the Tully Center for Free Speech:
Lamees Dhaif, an independent Bahraini journalist and human rights activist, will come to Syracuse University October 15 as the recipient of the 2012 Tully Award for Free Speech. The award, presented annually by the Tully Center for Free Speech in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, is given to a journalist who has faced a significant free speech threat.
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Read More… from 2012 Tully Award Ceremony rescheduled for October 15
From The Courier-Journal:
Frustrated by what she felt was a lenient plea bargain for two teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her and circulating pictures of the incident, a Louisville 17-year-old lashed out on Twitter.
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Read More… from Sexual assault victim’s tweets about attackers prompt contempt case
