President Donald Trump speaking at a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President, on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Freedom of speech emerged as a concept after the invention of the printing press, and that’s worth revisiting in the context of social media and Trump’s presidency.
Enshrining the Model Code on Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in legislation won’t ensure disagreements on campus remain civil. Here are some practical guidelines on how to disagree well.
Nine months into the pandemic, Indonesia has seen serious threats to civil liberties, involving not only privacy but also freedom of expression and of the press in the digital realm.
Academic freedom will be defined in law. It will keep universities busy with compliance, but the main outcome is more symbolic: the government can say it has stood up for free speech.
A protestor holds a sign at a Black Lives Matter protest in Charlotte, NC.
(Keith Helfrich/Unsplash)
Politicians and law enforcement engage in uncivil behaviour that undermines democratic society. Civility is a pre-requisite for empathy, and is essential for difficult conversations.
Tik Tok’s popularity has raised eyebrows in some countries.
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Young people continue to find new ways to connect on social media, in spaces that are increasingly hard for governments to regulate.
A protester during an anti-mask rally on July 19 in Indianapolis, Indiana, against the mayor’s mask order and the governor’s extension of the state shutdown.
Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
A constitutional law scholar says that the arguments made by anti-mask protesters that the Constitution protects their freedom to go maskless are just wrong.
False information about the new coronavirus is a big threat to containing the pandemic but governments must not use ‘fake news’ as an excuse to limit freedom of expression.
Until NZ is no longer in a state of emergency, authorities have exceptional powers over people’s lives – from telling people to stay home, to potentially making vaccinations or testing mandatory.
Twitter’s efforts to label misinformation during the US primaries haven’t met with success. So how do we sift useful coronavirus information from wrong or downright dangerous untruths?
Internet cafe owner Kaleb Alemayehu checks a computer in Adama City, Ethiopia. Internet shutdowns are common.
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An absence of laws governing the digital space has allowed the government to tinker with internet accessibility as it sees fit.
Pakistani Islamists march to protest the Supreme Court lenient treatment of Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman accused of blasphemy, in Karachi, Feb. 1, 2019.
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Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia all punish blasphemy harshly – even with death. Such laws have political as well as religious motives, says a scholar on Islamism: They’re a tool for crushing dissent.
Most of the community radio stations operate on a survivalist level, and should be seen as struggling small, medium and micro enterprises.
The Assange saga will drag on for months, if not years, before the UK courts, as his British lawyers fight the extradition proceedings tooth and nail.
AAP/EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga
As British courts this week hear arguments for and against the Wikileaks founder’s extradition to the US, the questions about journalism, the law and freedom of speech it raises are vital ones.
Ron MacLean and Don Cherry are seen in this March 2010 photo.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Don Cherry and his supporters would do well to listen to others who are justifiably offended by his xenophobic comments, and learn from them. Canada would be an even better place for it.
Universities need to protect people with different ideas.
Each of South Africa’s former presidents treated the state broadcaster very differently. From left Jacob Zuma, Nelson Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki (2008).
Epa/Kim Ludbrook
The South African Broadcasting Corporation, like South Africa itself, is a symbol of contradictions. While there are bad people who work for it, there are also many good ones.
Toohey writes, among other things, about laws hustled through parliament in recent years that hamper journalistic inquiry.
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