The brouhaha over a nine-year-old girl refusing to stand for the national anthem appears to confirm that tolerance is on the wane and nationalist sentiment on the rise in Australia.
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The storm over a nine-year-old refusing to stand for the national anthem is an indication of how ugly, and misguided, some aspects of national debate have become.
Ironically, Paterson claims to be arguing in favour of “free speech”, when his views would undermine intellectual freedom.
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Most universities do, in fact, mention academic freedom in several policy documents, such as enterprise bargaining agreements and other codes of conduct.
‘Free speech zones’ and other efforts to limit free speech on campus are igniting controversies across the nation.
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ABC’s cancellation of the hit reboot Roseanne because of its star’s racist tweet raises complex questions about freedom of speech and the line between public and private selves in the age of social media.
Academic freedom therefore encompasses the freedom to research the topics we choose, to draw the conclusions we find compelling from the evidence and analysis we undertake, and to speak publicly on those matters.
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Academic freedom is routinely recognised as an important principle that is enshrined in a range of governance policies - but staff at one university say it is under threat.
When students walked out of school to protest what they see as lax gun laws, some risked punishment from their schools. But it may be worth it to send a message, a First Amendment scholar argues.
Multichoice’s dominant power over South Africa’s public sphere suggests that dropping ANN7 may send a bad signal for media freedom and democratic debate.
Protesters outside the Supreme Court await a court decision in June 2016.
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Under a California law, faith-based crisis pregnancy centers must post signs with information about family planning services. The centers say it violates their First Amendment rights.
We need to rethink how we frame discourse about Chinese students who speak out at universities – we seem to have forgotten that argument is a normal part of university study.
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.
Read it and weep: the constitution in draft form, 2005.
EPA/Karim Sahib
Marcia Tiburi, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)
Artists, free speech advocates and gay rights activists in Brazil are dismayed after an LGBTQ-centric exhibit was closed because the subject matter offended evangelical Christians.
Mathias Cormann gave an assurance that there would be a bias towards freedom of speech.
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Kenya has published hate speech guidelines that target WhatsApp groups administrators, holding them responsible for offensive content.
Protesters demonstrate on the University of Washington campus where far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was giving a speech in Seattle on the same day Donald Trump was sworn in as president.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Differences of opinion are the lifeblood of universities and essential to advancing knowledge. But some universities are giving in to intimidation by cancelling events with controversial speakers.