William F. Buckley famously authored God and Man at Yale in 1951. In it, he decried his alma mater’s overt efforts to undermine what he called good, American values such as faith, capitalism, and individualism. Today, I assert that institutions of higher schooling everywhere undermine — or fail to instill — other crucial values; values that underpin the very idea of higher education. In particular: appreciation for freedom of speech, academic freedom, open debate, and fearless, intellectual rigor.  For more on freedom of speech, see Prof. Peter Jaworski’s Learn Liberty Video, The Philosop ..read more

Society is always changing, and so are ideas.  One constant, however, is intolerance for different ideas. That intolerance has left its mark, often in blood, on human history. The current iteration of intolerance, though not quite bloody, is “cancel culture.” This article seeks to demonstrate why it is necessary to debate and tolerate opposing viewpoints without canceling them. Cancel culture and the path to censorship The rejection of an individual for having ideas contrary to the mainstream is not a new phenomenon. However, the movement known as “cancel culture” has emerged in recent ye ..read more

Section 230, part of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996, may sound like just any obscure piece of legislation, but it plays a crucial role in protecting your online freedom. Back in February 1996, when Section 230 became law, it brought common sense to the table — content creators should be held responsible for their own words, not the platforms playing host. This is the essence of America’s commitment to free speech. However, in recent years, there has been significant pushback against Section 230 among political figures — and it isn’t just from one faction. Both the left and the righ ..read more

In late August 2023, middle schooler, Jaiden Rodriguez, was removed from class over a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack.  An administrator at Vanguard School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, claimed that the reason Jaiden’s patch was deemed unacceptable was the Gadsden flag’s supposed connections to slavery and the slave trade, and that it would be disruptive. This position stands in defiance of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech, which has long been deemed fully applicable to publicly funded schools by the U.S. Supreme Court. Indeed, in Healy v. James (1972), the Supreme Cour ..read more

This article was originally published on the Students For Liberty website as part of the Bastiat Scrolls project. Today, 62% of Americans have political views they are afraid to share. Despite the extensive legal protections for freedom of speech in America, I worry the attitude and spirit of freedom will decay despite legal guarantees. To remedy this, I believe it is important to learn about the example of Helmuth Hübener, a German teenager who defied the Nazi regime and became a martyr for freedom. Alongside his friends, he spoke out when a minuscule number would. Despite the danger and ..read more

Bill C-11, recognized as the Online Streaming Act, was passed as legislation into Canadian federal law through royal assent on April 27, 2023, championed by the Liberal government. Former Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriquez spearheaded this controversial bill aimed at safeguarding an “equitable” environment for Canadian online content creators.  The legislation has drawn heavy criticism from the public and free speech groups (not to mention YouTube itself), primarily due to the provisions about the oversight of online platform recommendation algorithms, such as those on YouTube ..read more

Unsurprisingly, the rising popularity of social media has led to its increased usage in media activism. In simple terms, media activism is a form of activism that utilizes media as its primary means of communication. This type of activism encompasses various forms of media, including newspapers, video and audio media, campaigns, and protests related to media and communication policies.  Social media activism, as a subset of media activism, has gained a growing audience due to its interactive nature, offering a unique platform for two-way communication. This allows individuals not only to ..read more

In a recent legal development that has ignited debates about the intersection of freedom of expression and professional obligations, former University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson’s court appeal has been denied.  The case has brought to the forefront the delicate balance between an individual’s right to express their views and the responsibility of professional regulatory bodies to ensure ethical conduct within their field. However, in this case, there may be a twist against the liberty of Canadian licensed professionals such as Dr. Peterson.  Jordan Peterson, a clinical psyc ..read more

Free speech is an immensely important aspect of what has made the United States the country it is today. The right to free speech in America is enshrined as a fundamental right in the First Amendment to the Constitution, meaning that individuals must be free to express their opinions, ideas, and beliefs without fear of censorship or government reprisal. In other words, Americans have a constitutional right to put forth dissenting ideas and openly criticize their government and political representatives — something individuals can be fined for or thrown in jail over in many other countries. The ..read more

As reported in the New York Times in 2017, a Knight Foundation survey of nearly 12,000 high school students found that such students’ support for the First Amendment’s free speech protections is “stronger today than it has been in the last 12 years.” As far as it goes, this is good news given the avalanche of unfriendly free speech policies and actions that have swept over higher education in recent years — e.g., trigger warnings; micro-aggression stipulations; speaker disruptions and “dis-invitations;” overly intrusive and chilling “bias reporting” systems; and the relegation of student expre ..read more