Call it out in no uncertain terms? Get banned. Nice strategy, Facebook. It’s hard to imagine many people are unaware of Facebook and it’s numerous failures to actually understand content moderation. Women […]
When speech isn’t free — but ought to be
If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. […]
The Slants (and the Redskins): what’s in (an offensive) name?
SCOTUS takes on the First Amendment case of The Slants, a band crying foul over a U.S. patent office refusal to trademark its name by Amber Healy The Supreme Court of the […]
Elonis vs US: SCotUS should have provided guidance to lower courts
by Carole McNall I rarely agree with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. But in his dissent in Elonis v. U.S., decided June 1, I found this pair of lines that had me […]
Free France: join the maquisards
“Their prophet is Satan. There is no connection between the Islamic faith and this minority.” -Hassan Chalghoumi, an imam of the Paris suburb of Drancy “Zeal, in religion, is a pure and […]
Say Ello to the Great Firewall
There’s a cyberwar on and we’re losing. The New York Times reports 10 financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase are compromised and we don’t know the extent of the damage. Home Depot, […]
Bobby Jindal doesn’t understand the First Amendment
2016 presidential hopeful’s defense of Duck Dynasty star’s homophobic comments suggests a deep misunderstanding of what the Constitution says. Here we go again. The great thing about Duck Dynasty-style blowups is that […]
Ten years ago this week the Dixie Chicks controversy erupted: I’m still not ready to back down
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally […]
A quick, nonpartisan democracy lesson for our anonymous faux-patriot thugs
Let’s start with this. DENVER – A Mexican restaurant in the Highlands neighborhood declined a Mitt Romney campaign stop. Now the owners of Rosa Linda’s Mexican Café are getting death threats, nasty […]
Forget free speech. What does clicking "Like" on Facebook even mean?
On Friday, the Chicago Tribune posted an AP article by Brock Vergakis about a recent federal court decision as to whether “liking” a page on Facebook constitutes free speech. In brief, employees “liked” […]