In Defense of Offense
The uncomfortable physiological feeling of hearing offensive speech, it would then seem, vindicates this view that one is being attacked.
Michael Robillard
· 15 min read
Free Speech
A collection of 232 posts
Buy Banned Books
In our hyper-mediated, panoptical culture, where neurotic self-reference is now almost completely inescapable, the continuing contribution of imaginative fiction and investigative journalism has never been more necessary.
Bonny Brooks
· 9 min read
Why Free Speech Matters
What’s at stake if both the legal protection and cultural environment sustaining free speech continues to deteriorate?
Jacob Mchangama
· 7 min read
The Internet Is Not a Children’s TV Channel
The internet is not a TV station, a babysitter, a shopping mall, a kindergarten, or a support group.
Matthew Mott
· 6 min read
Margaret Atwood: Tried on Social Media, Convicted by the Press
Social networks are effective at increasing participation – by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires.
Sharon Coen
· 5 min read
“Hate Speech” Does Not Incite Hatred
The claim that “hate speech” causes hatred, and thereby causes violence, is superficially appealing, but the more one thinks about it, the less sense it makes.
Gordon Danning
· 6 min read
Catherine Deneuve, #MeToo, and the Fracturing Within Feminism
The disproportionate backlash that Deneuve and her co-signers have incited is indeed a sign of the fracturing within feminism.
Ulysse Pasquier
· 7 min read
Free Speech Leftists Still Exist
The perception, understandably, follows that the right is in favor of free expression, and the left has become wholly illiberal.
Alexander Blum
· 7 min read
Femen’s Inna Shevchenko: Fear of Causing Offense Has Cost Too Many Innocent Lives
Her life story presents a challenge to religious communities. Do they want to reform [Islam] or give it up?”
Jeffrey Tayler
· 12 min read
Deliberation Not Boundaries: A Reply to Wessie du Toit
The greatest threat to free speech today comes from free speech itself. In particular, it comes from the sheer volume and chaotic nature of that speech.
Nestor de Buen
· 7 min read
Stigmatizing Legitimate Dissent: A Response to J. Oliver Conroy
Threatening speech when it actually did not do so delegitimizes speech that epitomizes exactly the type of speech that is supposed to be protected.
Lee Jussim and Akeela Careem
· 15 min read
Does Free Speech Need Boundaries to Survive?
It wouldn’t be misleading to say that the greatest threat to free speech today comes from free speech itself.
Wessie du Toit
· 6 min read
Sarah Haider on Normalizing Dissent: A Conversation
The effects of that particular stance – it’s not so visible how harmful it can be. But you’re lying about the reality of hundreds of millions of people across the world.
Spencer Case
· 15 min read
The Pragmatic Case for Understanding Neurodiversity
If you’re easily offended, it’s hard to understand the world.
Shanu Athiparambath
· 8 min read
A Policy of Censorship More Extreme Than Google
There is no room for nuance, no room for subtlety. Feelings supersede facts. The emotions of the most fragile must be soothed at any cost, even if the truth is a casualty.
Gideon Scopes
· 8 min read