'Students nationwide are watching how the adults who professed to care about free speech are responding under pressure. And they are learning that those adults don’t really mean what they say about the First Amendment. That’s a dangerous lesson.' theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

'Simply put, yesterday’s show of force in response to a peaceful gathering and the dozens of arrests of peaceful protesters, and at least one journalist, make clear UT Austin has abdicated its constitutional and state-mandated obligations to protect expressive rights on campus'

JUST SENT: FIRE urgently wrote UT Austin to condemn the disturbing display of force against pro-Palestinian protests on its campus that was cheered on by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

These vulgar displays of power violate both the First Amendment and state law.

'The patriotism that state officials in Hong Kong compel will be false — a thin veneer of respect, papered over citizens’ very real feelings of resentment, discontent and anger directed at their leaders.' On forced patriotism in Hong Kong — and Louisiana: thehill.com/opinion/civil-…

NEW Free Speech Dispatch:
- German police forbid ‘speaking Irish,' more censorship at pro-Palestinian events
- Belgian mayor tries to shut down conference
- Correctional labor sentence for Belarusian dissidents
- App bans in China
- Repression in/from Iran
thefire.org/news/german-po…

The reason observers think Texas is arresting people for protected speech is the governor announced that Texas is arresting people for protected speech twitter.com/DLoesch/status…

I thought German police's ban on certain languages at protests was outrageous. And then I saw this from U of TX, San Antonio — that protesters were warned against speaking Arabic. If accurate, this is unacceptable at a campus bound by the First Amendment. sacurrent.com/news/utsa-stud…

wow (of note Sarah McLaughlin though you probably caught already):

'A Chinese college student was sentenced to nine months in federal prison Wednesday for stalking and harassing a former fellow student who had shared pro-democracy fliers around campus.'
washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04…

The chilling show of force at the University of Texas at Austin is a disproportionate response to an apparently peaceful protest. Sending in a phalanx of law enforcement threatens protected speech where it should be at its most free: a public university like UT Austin.

I thought German police's ban on certain languages at protests was outrageous. And then I saw this from U of TX, San Antonio — that protesters were warned against speaking Arabic. If accurate, this is unacceptable at a campus bound by the First Amendment. sacurrent.com/news/utsa-stud…

My latest Free Speech Dispatch at FIRE -- German police forbid foreign languages at pro-Palestinian protest, more free speech troubles in Europe, app censorship in China, and transnational repression emerging from Iran thefire.org/news/german-po…

Adding this to my speech/expression reading material archive. Great read.

The greatest respect that officials can show to national symbols is to trust that they will be honored through choice. Whether in Hong Kong or in Louisiana, forced patriotism is no patriotism at all.

My latest at The Hill: thehill.com/opinion/civil-…

1/ 🧵I will soon pull out the stops with @HKFP's finances. We've 1 year to correct course without dipping into crisis/legal funds.

We will not mess with staffing/payrises, nor resort to paywalls or intrusive ads. We made cuts elsewhere & tried to shore up monthly donors.