Agence France-Presse reports: The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday defended its ban on a new film …. Spy thriller “Vishwaroopam” was forced out of cinemas after Muslim groups complained that they were portrayed in a negative light …. Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram said her government was forced to impose the […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
In re: Erik Loomis
By Jonathan H. Adler on December 20, 2012 12:34 am in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
What Ken at Popehat said. UPDATE: David Henderson too.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Testimony on the First Amendment and Anti-Muslim/Anti-Islam Speech
By Eugene Volokh on November 9, 2012 3:15 pm in "Hate Speech", Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs, Hostile Environment Harassment Law
I was invited to testify on this subject at today’s U.S. Commission on Civil Rights briefing on Federal Civil Rights Engagement with the Arab and Muslim American Communities Post 9/11, so I thought I’d pass along my written remarks. You can read them in PDF form here, or in plain text below (though without the […]
D.C. Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Ordered to Accept Bus Advertisement
The advertisement, which the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority was also ordered to run a few months ago, is this one: The D.C. agency originally accepted the ad, scheduled to run Sept. 24, but then “deferr[ed]” it indefinitely on Sept. 18 “due to the situations happening around the world at this time” (apparently referring to […]
English Screening of “Islam: The Untold Story” Cancelled Because of Threats
From The Guardian (UK) (Sept. 11, 2012): Channel 4 has cited concerns over security as the reason for cancelling a planned screening at its headquarters this week of a documentary film questioning the origins of Islam. Islam: The Untold Story, which claimed there was little written contemporary evidence about the origin of the religion, sparked […]
Why Punishing Blasphemous Speech That Triggers Murderous Reactions Would Likely Lead to More Deaths
In recent days, I’ve heard various people calling for punishing the maker of Innocence of Muslims, and more broadly for suppressing such speech. During the Terry Jones planned Koran-burning controversy, I heard similar calls. Such expression leads to the deaths of people, including Americans. It worsens our relations with important foreign countries. It’s intended to […]
Administration Seeks to Have “Innocence of Muslims” Removed from YouTube
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 14, 2012 2:38 pm in "Hate Speech", Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
The LA Times reports: Administration officials have asked YouTube to review a controversial video that many blame for spurring a wave of anti-American violence in the Middle East. The administration flagged the 14-minute “Innocence of Muslims” video and asked that YouTube evaluate it to determine whether it violates the site’s terms of service, officials said […]
Prof. Peter Spiro on Why “Hate Speech” Should Be “Ban[ned]” in the U.S. — and on How It Might Be Done, Using International Law
By Eugene Volokh on September 13, 2012 11:27 am in "Hate Speech", Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
From yesterday’s Opinion Juris post by Prof. Peter Spiro, one of the leading international law scholars in the country: The deplorable killing of Chris Stevens in Libya suggests a foreign relations law rationale for banning hate speech. Remember, the Benghazi protests were prompted by this film depicting the prophet Mohammed in not very flattering terms. […]
Criminal Mockery of Islam?
By Eugene Volokh on September 12, 2012 6:52 pm in Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs, Religion
That’s what MSBNC contributors Mike Barnicle and Donny Deutsch, the University of Pennsylvania’s Prof. Anthea Butler (Religious Studies), and of course the Egyptian government argue with regard to the movie that mocks Mohammed: Prof. Butler: “Good Morning. How soon is Sam Bacile going to be in jail folks? I need him to go now.When Americans […]
Thugs Win Again
By Eugene Volokh on September 1, 2012 3:47 pm in Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs, Religion and the Law
From The Jerusalem Post: Egged [the largest bus company in Israel] and the company in charge of bus advertisements have decided that rather than be forced to put up ads with women in Jerusalem due to court action claiming discrimination against the gender, they will remove all people — both men and women — from […]
Fear of Extremist Religious Violence Leads to Court Decision Barring Women from Praying at Religious Shrine
I didn’t hear about this when the decision was handed down in 2003, and when it was apparently enforced in 2009 and 2010, but I just noticed it and thought it would be a good addition to our Blasphemy category and our Freedom of Speech Restricted by Fear of Thugs category. From Prof. Sherry Colb, […]
New York Times Runs Ad Urging People to Quit Catholic Church, But Declines (for “a Few Months”) to Run Ad Urging People to Quit Islam
The New York Times ran this ad a few days ago: Pamela Geller responded by submitting this ad (click here for a zoomable version): Here is the New York Times‘ response to the submission, according to Geller: Bob Christie, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for the New York Times, just called me to advise […]
Not Safe to Display an American Flag in an American High School
By Eugene Volokh on November 10, 2011 9:46 am in Freedom of Speech at K-12 Schools, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs
Dariano v. Morgan Hill Unified School District (N.D. Cal.), decided the day before yesterday, upholds a California high school’s decision to forbid students from wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. (See here and here for more on this case.) The decision might well be correct under Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School […]
More in the Thugs Win Again Department
From The Advocate (Baton Rouge): A planned American flag burning at LSU ended before it started when more than 1,000 LSU students and other protestors forced police to intervene before violence broke out. LSU graduate student Benjamin Haas had planned to burn an American flag at noon Wednesday on the Parade Ground to promote his […]