First Amendment News

State legislators are threatening free expression in universities by proposing laws that stifle free speech. Arizona is considering a law that prevents public institutions from “formally recogniz[ing] a student organization that…promotes a foreign terrorist organization.” Pro-Palestinian students fear that they may find their freedoms curtailed. (Insight into Diversity, May 28, 2024, by Courtney Mullins) House of Representative Republicans are working on legislation that would protect students’ free speech rights. (Inside Higher Education, March 18, 2024,

UNESCO reports that reporters on the environment have been increasingly attacked, hundreds over the last 15 years. U.S. environmental reporters are also under attack with 36 press freedom violations since 2017. Reporters covering protests are particularly at risk, and their sources need protection. (Freedom of Press Foundation, May 10. 2024) For related FAC coverage, click here and here.

FIRE reports that the Supreme Court is set to rule on important cases regarding online speech and a case involving how governments pressure private groups for political reasons. The cases will decide these questions: Can public officials block users on social media accounts they use for official business?; Can protest organizers be held negligent and liable for acts committed by unidentified people at the protest?; Do laws that regulate social media content moderation violate the

The recent pro-Palestinian protests have led universities to call in local police, eroding their legitimacy as a self-governing entity. Said John Thelin, University of Kentucky College of Education emeritus professor of higher education, “One has to think of an American college or university as a ‘city-state’ in which its legal protections and walls include the campus — grounds, buildings, structures facilities — as legally protected, along with a university’s rights to confer degrees. Calling in

California police agencies are violating Penal Code Section 409.7 with their arrests of reporters and photojournalists during recent campus protests. The code prohibits police from interfering with reporters during a protest and from citing reporters for failing to disperse and allows reporters to enter closed areas around a protest. (Freedom of the Press Foundation, May 16, 2024, by Caitlin Vogus) In related news, California Highway Patrol officers fired into crowds at the Palestinian protests at