Commentary: When shouting silences speaking: Disinvitations, shoutdowns, and civil disobedience

By Amanda Nordstrom June 02, 2023 1 min read

By Amanda Nordstrom
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Excerpt: Graduation time used to be known as “disinvitation season” around FIRE’s offices, as we prepared for the yearly increase in demands by faculty members and students to revoke the invitations of guest speakers — often commencement and keynote speakers — because of something the speaker did, said, or believes.

But in recent years, there’s been a dramatic increase in calls for disinvitations all year round, along with an increase in the use of violence, shoutdowns, and other disruptive tactics to silence speakers on college campuses.

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