All the more proof that "hate speech" laws only apply to speech that whoever is in power thinks is hateful, not actual hate or bigotry. Don't give them that subjective power unless you want it used against the meek and powerless.
Germany uses anti-hate crime laws to silence free speech of Jews and Palestinians
‘We Jews are just arrested; Palestinians are beaten’: Protesters in Germany
"German-Israeli activist Iris Hefets was arrested for the first time in Berlin just a few weeks after the start of Israel’s war on Gaza last October – for holding a sign which read, “As a Jew and Israeli, stop the genocide in Gaza”. [...]
She was arrested a second time on November 10 for “inciting racial hatred” when she held the same sign – her charge was recently dropped. Her third arrest was for a sign warning that “Zionism kills”. Again, she was released soon after but, this time, her sign was confiscated."
Self-described "free speech absolutist" #ElonMusk's X Corp sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a public-interest non-profit that analyzed the effects of Musk's X/Twitter policy changes. (Spoiler: they drastically increased hate of all types on the platform.)
A judge has just dismissed Musk's suit, saying it's a transparent attempt to squash #FreeSpeech and chill criticism.
We seem to have so few wins these days. Please enjoy this one. Musk getting SLAPPed by a federal judge for his absurd lawsuit against Center for Countering Digital Hate.
It’s the “free speech” irony that drives it all home.
There will be first amendment lawsuits if students are expelled from public universities because they failed to show sufficient loyalty to a small foreign country on the other side of the planet.
Fuck Greg Abbott, Fuck Israel, and Fuck anyone who tries to hurt my students for daring to stand against an ongoing genocide.
I feel I should caution you about something that can be misread as a plan to incite homicide or harm against a current or former president of a war-like nation. The American FBI has taken people from other countries, for a long time, and for less justification. Especially people living within 100mi of their northern or southern border are at added risk of a misunderstood heckling jab being interpreted as any kind of threat.
#freeSpeech and all, but we also don’t draw cartoons of a certain deity for fear of a fiery doom.
Government agencies in 78 countries now use public facial recognition technology. It's commonly pitched as a tool to capture terrorists or dangerous criminals, but @restofworld says it has emerged as a critical instrument in identifying and punishing protesters. "In countries where demonstrating can come with physical or political risk, large-scale protests have historically offered a degree of anonymity, and, with it, a level of protection," Darren Loucaides writes. "But in the last decade, the spread of facial recognition technology has changed that equation: A lone face in a crowd is no longer anonymous; facial recognition allows authorities to capture people’s identities en masse."
Today, Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order supposedly intended to crack down on "antisemitism" on college campuses, but in the actual text makes it clear that the target are pro #Palestine organizers. He specifically names Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Meta has "substantively and disproportionately" restricted free speech through a blanket ban on content that uses the term "shaheed," which can be a reference to Islamic martyrs, Meta's independent Oversight Board said in a ruling released Tuesday.
Lawsuit from Elon Musk’s X against anti-hate speech group dismissed by US judge. Ruling says case appeared to be directed at "punishing" speech from nonprofit.
"A federal judge has dismissed X owner Elon Musk's lawsuit against a research group that documented an uptick in hate speech on the social media site, saying the organization's reports on the platform formerly known as Twitter were protected by the First Amendment."
NPR reports: "One of the group's findings, published in June, detailed how 'racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi, antisemitic or conspiracy content' from paid users went unmoderated on the site."
A federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed last year by Elon Musk’s X platform against the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. “This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech,” U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said. Read more from AP: https://flip.it/9Kednb #Tech#Internet#SocialMedia#ElonMusk#FreeSpeech
Today in Labor History March 23, 1918: 101 IWW members went on trial in Chicago for opposing World War I and for violating the Espionage Act. In September, 1917, 165 IWW leaders were arrested for conspiring to subvert the draft and encourage desertion. Their trial lasted five months, the longest criminal trial in American history up to that time. The jury found them all guilty. The judge sentenced Big Bill Haywood and 14 others to 20 years in prison. 33 others were given 10 years each. They were also fined a total of $2,500,000. The trial virtually destroyed the IWW. Haywood jumped bail and fled to the USSR, where he remained until his death 10 years later.
@Properganda@sickmatter@justicesandwich@sqgl@Jonricha I always took as axiomatic that the solution to most any social ill is more speech, and not less, with which this practice of blocking dissent is at odds with. Wouldn't you want to persuade, if not dissenters, then at least those following a dissenter?
It's un-American. But also just not effective. That's why the #secondamendment allows for advocating genocide. Because that #freespeech provides a safety valve.
In Defense of #AcademicFreedom: Defamation, Intimidation, and Suspension
"In this first installment of a new series, 'In Defense of Academic Freedom,' we host faculty members who have been suspended or placed on administrative leave for their support of #Palestine during #Israel’s ongoing #GenocideInGaza."
Let people #read whatever #books they like, you cowards. #Conservatives, #reactionaries, and #fascists always oppose #FreeSpeech and aim at censorship, and they always have some weak-arse excuse for that, but kids should read what they want, period.
The case involves a lawsuit initiated by… #Missouri & #Louisiana & individual #SocialMedia users. They accuse the #Biden admin of violating the #FirstAmendment by operating a sprawling federal “censorship enterprise” to #influence platforms…. Justices #Kagan & #Kavanaugh, who previously worked in Democratic & Republican admins, respectively, suggested that such exchanges were routine occurrences & did not amount to #censorship or #coercion in violation of the constitutional right to #FreeSpeech.
Last week we published our response to Ofcom's Online Safety Act (UK) consultation.
We've raised concerns about the threat to free expression in requirements to proactively screen users' social media content and measures that undermine end-to-end encryption.
We've signed the open letter from Amnesty, warning of the threats to freedom of expression and protest in the UK.
The government's new protocol will "add to a chaotic patchwork of repressive legislation and policing powers that has placed undue restrictions on the right to protest."
Find out more about the open letter signed by 46 civil rights organisations ⬇️
The fact that this is non-statutory guidance means that the public are denied parliamentary scrutiny of changes that will impact freedom of expression and political engagement in the UK.
The new definition of extremism is an undemocratic attack on our rights for political point-scoring.
Trump Bitterly Attacks Judge’s Daughter Hours After Gag Order (www.thedailybeast.com)
To be fair, I don’t think the gag order included attacking the judge