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An editorial in the Wellesley College student newspaper that called for "shutting down" some forms of hateful rhetoric became the latest flashpoint in a contentious national debate over free speech and its limits on college campuses.
The editorial, published Wednesday in the Wellesley News, argues that the campus community will "not stand for hate speech, and will call it out when possible."
"Shutting down rhetoric that undermines the existence and rights of others is not a violation of free speech; it is hate speech," the editorial states. "The spirit of free speech is to protect the suppressed, not to protect a free-for-all where anything is acceptable, no matter how hateful and damaging."
The editorial was widely criticized on social media as antithetical to the free exchange of ideas that is critical in a democracy and in liberal arts education. It comes as colleges across the country are wrestling with how to protect free speech in an era of trigger warnings, safe spaces, and even assaults on incendiary speakers invited to campuses.
Free speech for all. Unless they disagree with us on something...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @11:41AM (5 children)
The First Amendment prohibition against restricting free speech is a prohibition against the government making laws restriction free expression. Any newspaper or private institution can follow whatever cockamamy rules its leadership decides to promulgate. Similarly as with the Fourth Amendment: It restricts the government from intrusion of individual privacy ... it in no way restricts, for example, Google or Facebook from spying on you.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @11:53AM
That's OK, google and facebook is the government now.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 17 2017, @12:40PM
In effect, a college campus sets itself up as a local government. It establishes laws, rules, and codes of conduct, which the individual students seldom get to participate in. That is, the laws are not democratically decided on, but established by some board, and maybe a few teacher's pets who know how to parrot the proper words and phrases.
Free speech laws apply to college campuses, especially when those colleges are funded by the state, in whole, or in part.
If there is anywhere outside of federal government agencies where free speech should be protected, then it is in college and university where it should be most jealously guarded.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday April 17 2017, @01:12PM
Any newspaper or private institution can follow whatever cockamamy rules its leadership decides to promulgate.
Unless they're being used by government as a way to dodge the First Amendment. If a newspaper, for example, fires a journalist critical of federal activities in some quid pro quo with government officials, that's First Amendment territory even though the newspaper was the party getting its hands dirty. But First Amendment is not the only defense for free speech on a college campus.
Any private institution can have crazy rules (subject to the laws of the land such as discrimination, laws on association, and disability accommodation law in the US), but they have to follow those rules consistently for contractual reasons. As I noted in another post, Wellesley college portrays itself [soylentnews.org] as honoring free speech, creating a reasonable expectation of free speech among its students and employees, and apparently has rules protecting the exercise of free speech (though I didn't bother to dig enough to find them). Thus, any subsequent punishment for speech is not just hypocrisy or craziness, it is also a legal issue which can be resolved against the college and the administrators responsible.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @01:21PM
Saying people support free speech because of the first amendment is like saying people support the right of women to vote because of the 19th amendment.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday April 17 2017, @04:49PM
I must have missed something, who said anything about the First Amendment?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.