Free Speech Advocates Research Articles

Roundtable: On Gaza and the War on Palestinian Journalism

This virtual panel discusses Israel’s war on Palestinian journalism, which has been part and parcel of its war on Gaza since October 7, 2023. Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists has made this the deadliest period for journalists since the establishment of the Committee to Protect Journalists in 1992. Israel has also targeted and destroyed the instruments integral to reporting, including journalists’ equipment, cars, and communications technology, and it has imprisoned Palestinian journalists in unprecedented numbers. It has tried to limit coverage of the war by prohibiting foreign journalists from entering Gaza independently. This panel presents firsthand accounts from journalists and free speech advocates of their experiences covering the war on Gaza from their respective locations, including while living in constant danger in Gaza. It expresses Palestinian journalists’ commitment to speaking the truth despite extraordinary risks and conveys the importance of presenting reporting from Gaza under Palestinians’ own bylines.

A survey inquiry into behavioral foundations of hate speech regulations: evidence from Japan

AbstractThis paper highlights the concept of dignity as the cornerstone that justifies hate speech regulations in democratic societies. In political theory and constitutional law, the primacy of dignity as the moral and legislative justification for regulating hate speech has already been addressed by dignitarianism, especially in the course of debate with free speech advocates. We aim to augment this important claim in the normative literature with empirical data. Specifically, based on our survey conducted in Japan, where its first national anti-hate speech law had only recently been enacted and ordinary citizens were thus less predisposed of the debate, we show that citizens' concerns about the dignity of a targeted victim lead them to support regulations. Our analysis further clarifies the possible mechanisms of the dignitarian rationale, revealing not only the people's public-centered expectation regarding the societal consequences of hate speech, which dignitarians emphasized, but also the importance of more individual-based judgments regarding morality and justice, in shaping their regulatory attitudes.

From savages to snowflakes: Race and the enemies of free speech

AbstractRight-wing free speech advocacy is increasingly shaping global politics. In IR, free speech has generally been viewed within human rights and international legal frameworks. However, this article shows that contemporary free speech advocates often ignore or oppose human rights and international law, focusing instead on (what they describe as) a defence of the nation state against the enemies of free speech. This article examines this articulation of free speech's enemies: first historically as the ‘savage’ in John Stuart Mill's influential formulation of free speech; and then contemporarily as the ‘snowflake’, ‘mob’, and ‘cultural Marxist’ by elected officials and lobbyists in the UK and US. The article argues that John Stuart Mill's savage is figured within a racialised civilisational hierarchy of degrees of humanity. Today, right-wing free speech advocates extend and reconfigure this hierarchy, imagining the ‘snowflake’, ‘mob’, and ‘cultural Marxist’ as lesser human, subhuman, and extra-human, respectively. Thus, in contrast to rights-based analyses of free speech advocacy – which assume or assess the promotion of rights as a ‘public good’ – the article argues that narratives of free speech's enemies are deployed by right-wing free speech advocates to underwrite racialised policy responses and global hierarchies.

An Uphill Battle for Free Speech Advocates: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Free Speech Rhetoric

This essay reports the findings of a study designed to measure which pro-free speech arguments are most effective at increasing support among college students. Demographic factors, specifically gender and political affiliation, were also analyzed for potential causal relationships. Much has been written about the importance of free speech and the frightening lack of support it currently receives among young people. Unfortunately, there has been little focus on the pragmatic aspect of how best to promote free speech. This essay aims to fill that void. The surprising results of this study will help better inform free speech advocates as to best practices of promoting their message. Furthermore, the findings invite future research into attitudes on free speech and effective advocacy.

The Overlooked Benefits of 'Hate Speech': Not Just the Lesser of Two Evils

Many free-speech advocates view “hate speech” as deserving protection only because it is the lesser of two evils. This is unfortunate because the benefits of “hate speech” provide a valuable arrow in the quiver of free-speech advocacy. This essay provides a summary of the more commonly presented harms of censoring “hate speech,” the often overlooked benefits of allowing it, and an analysis of the strategic considerations for emphasizing the benefits.

Porn as practice, porn as access: pornography consumption and a ‘third sexual orientation’ in Japan

ABSTRACT Japan is currently embroiled in an ongoing legal and social debate over the production and consumption of animated sexual images as a particularly damaging genre of heterosexual pornography for men [dansei muke poruno]. Both anti-pornography activists and free-speech advocates agree that such media play a profound part in shaping Japan’s sexual landscape – a site for the shaping of one’s sexual possibilities and sexual self. These debates, however, are also key to shaping normative ideals of what sex is and, subsequently, how one’s right to sexual expression can be curtailed, denied, or legally preserved. Drawing upon native theorizations of pornography and ethnographic engagement with anti-pornography and free-speech activists, as well as one informant’s claim to a ‘third sexual orientation’, this article argues that pornography use itself is a form of sexual practice and thus attempts to curtail its distribution and consumption restrict sexual access and sexual rights.

Book Review: Media Law in the United Arab Emirates, by Matt J. Duffy

Media Law in the United Arab Emirates. Matt J. Duffy. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International, 2014. 104 pp. $81 pbk.Media law is more global than ever. This is hardly surprising because we are living in a globalized society. An increasing number of media law books focus on international and foreign law. Some books are wide-ranging. Media, Advertising & Entertainment Law Throughout the World (2015) is a case in point covering media law and related topics in 45 jurisdictions. International Libel & Privacy Handbook (2013) is less inclusive, but it still addresses libel and privacy law in nearly 30 countries.Probably most significant is the International Encyclopaedia for Media Law, a subset of the International Encyclopaedia of Laws (IEL) project of Kluwer Law International in the Netherlands. A series of IEL monographs about foreign media law concentrates on an emerging area of interest to journalists, academics, and free speech advocates. It is a country-by-country survey of media law, with 20 titles published thus far.One of the recent IEL media law monographs is Media Law in the United Arab Emirates by Professor Matt J. Duffy at Berry College, who taught media law and ethics at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates in 2010 to 2012. Like those on Australia, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, the U.A.E. volume examines of speech and media law and regulations. But it is far less voluminous, which might have to do with the limited media law jurisprudence of the United Arab Emirates.The slim (104 pages) book comprises the General Introduction, and chapters on Freedom of Speech and Regulation of Print, Broadcast, and Digital Media. The General Introduction section offers a concise background on the political and legal system and the sociocultural values of the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the U.A.E. media landscape and various sources of the U.A.E. media law are noted. This contextual information places the author's examination of the U.A.E. media law in perspective.Duffy's analytical framework is drawn from international, foreign and comparative law. More often than not, he refers to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and U.S. and other foreign laws on freedom.The U.A.E. Constitution makes no textual mention of freedom of the press as such. But of the is read into of expression as guaranteed as a constitutional right. In the United Arab Emirates, however, the constitutional protection of a free carries little practical relevance. According to Duffy, no U.A.E. court has relied on the Constitution in weighing of the against its conflicting sociopolitical and individual interests. Citing the absence of judicial independence in the United Arab Emirates, he finds that few judges rule against the prosecutorial authorities and in favor of the news media.Three major media statutes-Penal Code of 1987, Press and Publications Act of 1980, and Cybercrime Law of 2012-are given due attention.Prior censorship is not part of the formal U.A.E. media law, but it is accepted by the U.A.E. media informally. Furthermore, licensing is required of print and electronic media, which distinguishes the United Arab Emirates from other countries where newspapers, in contrast with broadcasting media, do not need licensing from the government. …

Book Review: Blowing the Roof off the Twenty-First Century: Media, Politics, and the Struggle for Post-Capitalist Democracy, by Robert McChesney

Robert McChesney Blowing the Roof off the Twenty-First Century: Media, Politics, and the Struggle for Post-Capitalist Democracy. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press, 2014. 272 pp.Divided into four parts, this book features 11 essays (some originally appeared in Monthly Review) and an interview, advocating for post-capitalist democracy. McChesney defines this as a society expressly committed to democratic practices first and foremost (p. 21). As for contribution to the field, the book features little that he has not covered among an impressive collection of books, but in Blowing the Roof off the Twenty-First Century: Media, Politics, and the Struggle for Post-Capitalist Democracy, he successfully re-emphasizes important ideas with contemporary relevance. College and public relations instructors should consider integrating the spirit of McChesney's ideas in their courses and make this book required reading. Collectively, the book's chapters do awareness-raising work by integrating economics, politics, culture, and ecology and infusing it with critique of income disparity, plutocratic governance, militarism, and planetary ecological degradation to encourage grassroots pressure on policymakers for serving the public beyond primarily catering to corporations.McChesney's sharp reasoning is steeped in historical context and presented in straightforward, applicable ways for messages that resonate with Millennials and should prove valuable to free speech advocates. His arguments about the state of today and its freefall collapse (p. 19) are useful for communication classroom discussions designed to inspire students to make their own mark in the world. In particular, he takes on mainstream media's shortcomings in supporting self-governance, namely, by amplifying reportage lacking in robust multi-dimensional views necessary to support U.S. democracy which relies upon vibrant, independent (p. 11). Podcasting, blogging, YouTube, and social media have proven useful for circumventing mainstream media by putting media reform on the public agenda. Indeed, this is message that should resonate among students who may provide an antidote to what McChesney calls demoralized public life fostered by failed media (p. 154). He also mentions MySpace as viable alternative, probably because the interview was conducted in 2007 before Facebook and Twitter had gained widespread popularity. McChesney characterizes undergrads asstarved to engage with this world . . . frustrated with the sort of corporate culture that they're immersed in, and when they get some perspective on it and can see some of the limitations and some of the alternatives, they get energized and excited. (p. 157)Perhaps most poignant is McChesney's argument that the Internet has not turned out to be great socio-economic playing field leveler or panacea for democratic as once predicted. Instead, he argues that the Internet has become means for surveillance, center of capitalism, and propaganda source. In sum, the Internet did not magically produce great journalism (p. 151). McChesney draws upon his early public radio career and advocates for community radio as means to expand the range of public debate. …

"Toxic Strip Clubs": The Intersection of Religion, Law and Fantasy

This paper examines a segment of the politically active Christian Right (SPACR) that works toward controlling sexual expression in accord with their desire to live in a Scripture-based society. At the local and state levels, focus is on adult entertainment exotic dance. Under the United States First Amendment to the Constitution and established law, exotic dance, a form of expression, cannot be banned solely on the grounds that some people deem it immoral. Recasting their religion-based objections within the Supreme Court "adverse secondary effects" doctrine (governments may regulate clubs if the aim is to prevent crime, property depreciation, and disease), SPACR pursues its opposition to exotic dance through laws and social actions that harm the business. The rationale for hostility is compared to facts. SPACR's secular reasoning gains support for regulations to marginalize and punish those who do not adhere to their moral values causing free speech advocates, consumers, and involved businesses to fight back. At issue are civil liberties under the US Constitution, the separation of church and state, and harm to the economy.

Review: Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation over Public Space

Review: Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation over Public Space By Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Renia Ehrenfeucht Reviewed by Pamela Flinton SUNY Oneonta, USA Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia and Ehrenfeucht, Renia. Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation over Public Space. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009. 336pp. ISBN 9780262123075. US$28.00, cloth. The authors of this work have attempted to “document the evolution of municipal sidewalks as well as their competing functional, social, political, commercial, and environmental uses” (p.11) in a work that is relatively unique in its field. Sidewalks have been in existence, in one form or another, since about 2000 B.C. Throughout history sidewalks have been many things, including the place to see and be seen; a method to move foot traffic; a place to showcase vendor wares, and a quiet point of contention between public and private entities. Case studies of five major U.S. cities – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Seattle – provide glimpses of how sidewalks have become public spaces that are constantly in conflict and being negotiated for. Sidewalks are considered spaces of economic survival when used by street vendors; as a place to establish one’s individual or group identity as in the suffragettes parades in 1920; as a place of dissent (the free-speech advocates of the early 1900s); and, in more recent years, as a place to create an urban forest of trees. The glimpses given in this book are succinct and extremely useful. The book uses themes of distinctiveness, publicness, diversity and contestation, and regulation to delve into the competing uses and claims of sidewalk users. The chapter “History and Evolution” provides overall background concerning the development and uses of the sidewalk. The chapter “Sidewalk as Space of Dissent” investigates sidewalks political spaces from the free speech riots of the early 1900s, through Vietnam protests in the 1960s and 1970s, right up to the Free Trade Area of the Americas protests in Miami, FL in 2003. Chapters 10 and 11 speak to the role of municipalities in the regulation of sidewalks. The amount of archival and statistical information in the writing attests to the thorough research completed by the authors. The number of photographic depictions is limited, yet very relevant to the topic of the section. Tables that are included are clear and easy to decipher. The list of references is quite comprehensive and very diverse. The index is extensive and an asset to the overall work. Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris is Professor and Chair of UCLA's Department of Urban Planning. Her research focuses on the public environment of cities and its impact on the urban resident. Renia Ehrenfeucht is Assistant Professor in the Department of Planning and Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans. Her research is concentrated in the production and meaning of the public environment and the social production of that environment. This book is recommended for social science researchers, undergraduate libraries, and anyone interested in how public spaces are competed for and developed. Pamela Flinton, MLS. , Head of Access Services Librarian, James M. Milne Library, SUNY Oneonta, 108 Ravine Parkway, Oneonta NY 13820, USA. TEL:1-607-436-2998. Electronic Green Journal, Issue 29, Winter 2009, ISSN:1076-7975

CIPA: A Brief History

Passed in 2000, the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) mandates Internet filtering for all public schools and libraries. Challenges to the law have been raised on constitutional grounds by free-speech advocates such as the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. After losing one such challenge in district court, the federal government appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the law was upheld in June 2003, though not without possible future concerns. CIPA has profound implications for K–12 school leaders and technology specialists, and a history of the law reveals much about its origins and purpose.

Keeping It Clean

Obscenity online is posing some of the greatest challenges to free speech advocates and censors. Seth Finkelstein explains why

Carving a Literary Exception: The Obscenity Standard andUlysses

Research Article| June 01 2001 Carving a Literary Exception: The Obscenity Standard and Ulysses Marisa Anne Pagnattaro Marisa Anne Pagnattaro Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Twentieth-Century Literature (2001) 47 (2): 217–240. https://doi.org/10.1215/0041462X-2001-3004 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Marisa Anne Pagnattaro; Carving a Literary Exception: The Obscenity Standard and Ulysses. Twentieth-Century Literature 1 June 2001; 47 (2): 217–240. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/0041462X-2001-3004 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsTwentieth-Century Literature Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © Hofstra University2001 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Articles You do not currently have access to this content.

Free Speech Advocates at Berkeley

This study compares highly committed members of the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley with the student population at large on three sociopsychological foci: general biographical data, religious orientation, and rigidity-flexibility. Questionnaires were administered to 172 FSM members selected by chance from the ten to twelve hundred who entered and "sat-in" the Administration Building at the University of California on December 2, 1964. A comparative sample of 146 student respondents, selected randomly from the student directory, was obtained by mail. Results indicated that the sit-ins were younger and more homogeneous in age, had parents who were more academically elite (in terms of Ph.D. and M.A. degrees held), and comprised a larger proportion of females than that of the cross-sectional group. No differences were obtained in academic achievement (accumulative grade point average) or in birth order and number of siblings. It was found, as predicted, that the FSM members were less influenced by formalized religion than the cross-sectional group representing the student body and that they were also less rigid, as measured by a 27-item scale of rigidity-flexibility. This latter finding is of particular interest, considering the purported rigidity of the FSM in negotiations with the University administration, and suggests the necessity of distinguishing between a trait of rigidity as psychologically defined and commitment.