National Free Speech News & Commentary

Gabriel Diamond, Talia Dror and Jillian Lederman
New York Times

Excerpt: Since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, campus life in the United States has imploded into a daily trial of intimidation and insult for Jewish students. A hostile environment that began with statements from pro-Palestinian student organizations justifying terrorism has now rapidly spiraled into death threats and physical attacks, leaving Jewish students alarmed and vulnerable.

On an online discussion forum last weekend, Jewish students at Cornell were called “excrement on the face of the earth,” threatened with rape and beheading and bombarded with demands like “eliminate Jewish living from Cornell campus.” (A 21-year-old junior at Cornell has been charged with posting violent threats.) This horror must end.

Ari Blaff
National Review

Excerpt: Two dozen top U.S. law firms have issued a stern warning that law schools move with “urgency” to address the rising antisemitism on campus, or else it could affect recruitment, National Review has learned.

“Over the last several weeks, we have been alarmed at reports of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and assaults on college campuses, including rallies calling for the death of Jews and the elimination of the State of Israel. Such anti-Semitic activities would not be tolerated at any of our firms,” the statement published on Wednesday reads.

MIT Free Speech Alliance

Excerpt: The MIT Free Speech Alliance and Adam Smith Society are co-sponsors of this debate, presented at MIT's Wong Auditorium on November 2, 2023. In this debate, two teams will debate the resolution, "Resolved that STEM is Systemically Racist."

Gregory Kearney and Joshua Rauh
Liberty Lens, Substack

Excerpt: In recent years, America’s leadership class has become increasingly antagonistic toward long-standing norms around free speech. As we laid out in one of our recent pieces, government bureaucrats have increasing endorsed the use of censorship under the guise of protecting Americans from so-called mis- and disinformation.

In this piece, we focus specifically on some of the reasons for this shift in stated values and that shift’s impact on those who dare to dissent from elite orthodoxy particularly within academia.

Jacob Mchangama
Persuasion

Excerpt: Open democracies should not retreat from the institutional and civic commitment to free expression, however ugly many of its current manifestations are. Freedom of expression serves its most important function at times of deep polarization, where the sense of righteous indignation tempts us to silence the viewpoints we hate with scant regard for the collateral damage to democracy, freedom, and tolerance that constitute the necessary precondition for social peace in diverse societies.

ACLU

Excerpt: In an open letter delivered to over 650 college and university leaders, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) expressed its strong opposition to any efforts to stifle free speech and association on college campuses, and urged universities to reject calls to investigate, disband, or penalize pro-Palestinian student groups for exercising their free speech rights. The letter follows a call to universities to investigate Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters for “material support for terrorism,” without citing any evidence of such support.