Australia is the only Western democracy without some form of charter of rights legislated by parliament or entrenched in the constitution.
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We have a serious deficit in legal protection for human rights in Australia, rights that have been in regression for 20 years. We need a legislated charter setting out the rights we care about.
Michelle Grattan discusses the high court’s decision to uphold the sacking of a public servant due to anonymous social media posts criticising the government.
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University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Geoff Crisp speaks with Michelle Grattan about the week in politics.
In a landmark decision, High Court ruled that the federal government may legitimately restrict the right of public servants to express political views.
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The decision confirms the steady march of employer control over workers’ private views and activities, supported by courts and tribunals over many years.
Protestors make their voices heard in New York City following Donald Trump’s 2016 election.
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There are calls to ban the far-right former Breitbart editor from Australia. He’s due to speak at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference.
A recent study has found that many Obama supporters didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US election because of the spread of fake news.
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Human rights activists, legal experts and others fear these laws have the potential to be misused to stifle free speech or unintentionally block legitimate online posts and websites.
Oberlin College’s lawsuit raises issues for global higher education, and has implications for U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Is a $25 million judgement against Oberlin College going to chill free speech – or is the wealth of a publicly subsidized private college helping polarize debates about race and politics?
Humans have always sought knowledge, all the way back to Eve.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
The pressure for universities to take action on free speech may be more about politics than anything else.
The New York Times decision to end daily political cartoons in its international edition has led to predictions of the death of cartooning. But the decision actually reflects an increasingly globalised, online industry.
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A New York Times decision has led to predictions of the death of cartooning. But rather than perishing, is the global art form just feeling the full force of technological and workplace change?
The Australian Federal Police have allowed themselves to become a tool of ‘secretive, ruthless and vindictive executive government’.
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What everyone should want is a healthy system of government that can serve the public interest by bringing important matters to light.
Broken contract: ‘Egg Girl’ Amber Holt’s employer might find she has breached her obligations as an employee to protect the company’s image.
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The US indicted WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange for conspiring to hack into a government computer. But the prosecution of Assange may also pose a risk to the rights of journalists in the US.
The Constitution is interpreted differently by the alt-right.
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The growing number of self-taught, right-wing experts on the Constitution believe not only in the rights of white people, but have a comprehensive – if not comprehensible – view of the Constitution.
More states are passing laws that deal with campus free speech.
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Dissenter enables users to comment on any web page using a third-party forum. For better or worse, it begets implications for political behaviour online.
These five Towson University Honors students in Sienna, Italy, were among the more than 332,000 U.S. students studied abroad in 2016-17.
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Though studying abroad can be a rewarding experience, it also comes with certain risks. A study abroad expert provides 7 tips to help students stay safe while visiting in a foreign land.
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order requiring colleges to certify that their policies support free speech as a condition of receiving federal research grants.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Though largely political and symbolic, the campus free speech order that President Trump issued matters because it ties millions of federal research dollars to how well colleges protect free speech.
Jamal Knox, the rapper known as ‘Mayhem Mal.’
Screenshot, KDKA CBS Pittsburgh
Rapper Jamal Knox was convicted of making terroristic threats against two Pittsburgh police officers in a rap song. Now his case is before the Supreme Court, with serious implications for free speech.
Freedom of speech on Australian university campuses has been heavily debated this year.
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