Controversy erupted after a lecturer at the University of Alberta posted on Facebook in November that the Holomodor is a “myth.” Canada recognized the Holomodor — the death of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 due to Soviet policies — as an act of genocide in 2008. Here, the Holodomor Memorial, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(Flickr/Matt Shalvatis)
There is a strong framework of international laws and conventions that defend free speech, but Uganda continues to limit freedom of expression especially when the people criticise their president.
Australia is the only Western democracy without some form of charter of rights legislated by parliament or entrenched in the constitution.
Lukas Coch/AAP
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.
Protestors make their voices heard in New York City following Donald Trump’s 2016 election.
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In Trump’s America, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature and scope of the First Amendment.
A Sudanese protester waves the Sudanese and Algerian flags. Peaceful protestors in both countries eventually toppled their long term presidents.
EPA-EFE/Amel Pain
As countries are calling for laws to control extremism online, it is becoming clear that defining the line between hate speech and free speech is a complex challenge.
The scheme has many critics, but the numbers show that it’s working well.
People, including the activist group Code Pink, hold signs at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia during a protest about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Oct. 10, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Internet taxes could stifle Africa’s free and vibrant social media.
Faith Goldy, an alt-right champion who appeared in an interview on a white nationalist site, speaks outside Wilfrid Laurier Univesity in March 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hannah Yoon
Free speech may protect offensive speech, but we degrade this central right when we see it as simply the right to offend, regardless of the impact on others.
The French National Assembly, which is debating a law that would allow “fake news” to be banned in the pre-election period.
Richard Ying et Tangui Morlier/Wikimedia
Turkey’s June 24 elections are the first in 16 years that could be politically meaningful. Opposition parties seem revitalised and could launch anti-Erdoğan coalition into the second round.
In a society like South Africa’s that is increasingly becoming polarised, simplified opinions should be approached with caution.
Protesters kick in the window at Concordia University as they try to stop a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Montreal in 2002. Netanyahu cancelled the speech citing security concerns.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
In his new book “University Commons Divided,” former University of Saskatchewan President Peter MacKinnon examines the attack on freedom of expression at Canadian universities.
The Rwandan model can’t be replicated easily given that it depends heavily on political dominance and tight, centralised control of patronage networks.
The apparently growing practIce of governments and government officials blocking critics on social media has serious implications for freedom of expression.
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Citizens should be free to criticize government authorities on social media platforms, and muzzling such criticism may well be unconstitutional.
People demonstrate in Toronto in August 2017 in solidarity with those at a University of Virginia rally against white supremacy. That demonstration ended in tragedy after a woman was killed by a white supremacist. Universities in both the U.S. and Canada are at the centre of fierce debates about free speech and the right of those on the far right to be heard.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
In such a polarized age, universities and colleges should uphold the core values of liberal education by asserting, through their policies and practices, the reasonable, rational middle ground.