Daily Archives: March 20, 2012

18-03-2012 16:55 @tjsotomayor on twitter tommy ask, is facebook anti free speech since they are quick to delete the posters of videos who bring them views yet the people who troll the videos who do nothing arent affected?

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YouTube is Anti Free Speech! - Video

20-03-2012 01:50 The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) drafts model legislation to be replicated in states across the country, including harsh anti-union laws. In Georgia, a state that was a cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, proposed legislation would levy fines of up to $10000 per day against groups organizing rallies. Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams talks about how SB 469 would stifle free speech: "While we celebrate democracy abroad, they're seeking to stifle it at home."

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The cost of free speech: Proposed law creates fines for protests - Video

As featured on TM Forums the Insider Blog

Those of you old enough to remember the days of flower power and free love will also remember how many conventions were broken down as people around that time rebelled against inane authority and outdated laws. The era of McCarthyism, that fueled a propaganda war against anything that wasnt in the best interests of America, was finally put to rest and people started thinking for themselves.

This new thinking spawned the internet age that we now live in, one that allowed the web to evolve unfettered by rules and regulations, mainly because it was so new regulators had not yet come up with rules for it, or even needed to.

It was perceived primarily as an academic network, safe and harmless, and not something that needed much regulation because it was limited to so few.

Yes, times have changed but the internet has, until recently, avoided the undue attention of regulators. Net neutrality exponents have reared their ugly heads pretending to protect the internet and its freedom while completely missing the point that regulation of any type normally achieves the exact opposite.

Reports from a panel at the recent South by Southwest Interactive Festival (better known as SXSW) in Texas indicate the days of free speech on the internet, especially via social media, may soon become a thing of the past. Those disparaging remarks you make about a companys service or products may come back to haunt you, whether they are true or not.

Making the most of social tools without running afoul of the law was the focus of comments made by Dara Quackenbush of Texas State University who gave attendees a crash course on fundamental social media legal issues.

She mentioned a former tenant of one Horizon Realty, who was sued after she tweeted to friends, You should just come anyway. Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks its ok. Even though the case was dismissed, Dara said it illustrated challenges that social media professionals face with libel law. (Courtney Love wasnt as lucky when she tweeted a rant about her fashion designer. Love paid more than $400,000 to settle that lawsuit.)

Dara also raised issues surrounding the USAs First Amendment and the right to free speech. Lawmakers of the time would never have envisaged the power of the internet to spread a message so far and so wide so quickly. While the First Amendment protects most forms of expression, the law has never protected speech that is lewd, obscene, profane and libelous or fighting words. And that is where the latest attempts to gag the internet come in.

Social media companies like Facebook include terms that users will not bully, intimidate or harass or use hateful, threatening or profane speech. Most social media terms of service contain, or should contain, similar provisions.

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Days numbered for free speech on internet?

CINCINNATI - Occupy Cincinnati protesters are gathering at Piatt Park and Garfield Place downtown Monday evening as they celebrate the establishment of a 24/7 demonstration and free speech space.

The open demonstration area within 100 square feet of the Garfield statue was created as part of legal settlement between the City of Cincinnati and the Occupy Cincinnati. It included dropping 300 criminal charges against protesters for not leaving the park at closing time last fall.

The group intends started its demonstration at 6 p.m. Monday to celebrate what's it's calling Re-Occupy Free Speech Day.

Occupy Cincinnati says it wants to exercise its First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.

The group will hold a General Assembly which includes speakers from various Occupy support groups like Move to Amend, Union Bethel, The National Organization for Women, 350 Ohio, Food Not Bombs and SPAN, Single Payer Action Network.

Speakers and music will continue at Piatt Park through 10 p.m., when Occupy Cincinnati holds what it is calling a Soapbox for free speech.

The settlement agreement does not allow Occupy Cincinnati or any group to put up camping tents or other structures in the park. All standard Cincinnati park rules will apply to any demonstrations or rallies at Piatt Park, as they would for any visitors to any Cincinnati public parks.

2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Occupy Cincinnati marks free speech zone

When the charred bodies of four young girls were found in the back stairwell of a Baptist church in Alabama in 1963, free speech advocate Mary Beth Tinker felt connected to them and other youth suffering during the civil rights movement.

I related to those girls because they were about my age, she said to students, professors and community members at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Monday night. I wondered if their church basement was like our church basement.

After that, Tinker said, she started getting more involved. The 11-year-old started picketing.

Tinker, an early pioneer for students free speech rights, spoke at an event titled At the Schoolhouse Gate: Freedom of Speech in Schools A Conversation with Mary Beth Tinker as part of the Tully Center for Free Speechs Distinguished Speaker Series.

Her decision to protest the Vietnam War by wearing an armband to school led to a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld students rights to free speech. The decision continues to influence school speech cases, and Tinker still advocates for what she called the power of youth to take things forward.

Early childhood experiences in Iowa instilled in Tinker a strong moral obligation to advocate for peace. Her parents, Tinker said, kept speaking up for justice during the civil rights movement. With her five siblings, she watched images of the Vietnam War unfold on television.

As kids, we were so moved by that, she said.

As a 13-year-old, Tinker wore a black armband to junior high school in protest of the Vietnam War. She, her brother and his friend were ultimately suspended for violating a policy the towns principals and superintendent hastily crafted after reading a news article about the upcoming protest in the high school paper, Tinker said.

With assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union, Tinker and the other students sued the school district for infringing on their First Amendment rights. Although she didnt like breaking official rules, Tinker said she felt that kids should have rights.

We were just wearing these little armbands, she said. We werent doing anything to hurt or bother anyone. The Tinker family received hate mail and a bomb threat on Christmas Eve. They lost cases at district and appellate courts. But four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Tinkers case.

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Tully Center | Free speech advocate discusses civil rights