Table of Contents
Talking Outside the Box at Iowa State
Today, columnist Dustin Loy at Iowa State University presented a persuasive argument on why speech restrictions at universities are a bad idea. In an opinion piece featured in the Iowa State Daily, the school’s student newspaper, Loy attacked both the speech code at Iowa State and its “free speech zone” policies using research from Spotlight: The Campus Freedom Resource. Dustin also hammered home the precise reason why speech codes and censorship are not the solution, writing:
The answer lies not in more draconian restrictions on speech, but the exact opposite. The only way to overcome speech viewed as offensive is with more speech. By silencing one side of the debate with codes and restrictions one quashes any real means to an effective solution.
Good work Dustin! FIRE couldn’t have said it better.
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
A third of Stanford students say using violence to silence speech can be acceptable
FIRE used polling data before and after the judge’s visit to map out how a high-profile heckler’s veto changed Stanford’s free speech climate.
FIRE survey shows Judge Duncan shoutdown had ‘chilling effect’ on Stanford students
According to a new FIRE survey, conservative students self-censored more often after the shoutdown than before the shoutdown.
USC canceling valedictorian’s commencement speech looks like calculated censorship
The university’s move, citing vague ‘safety concerns’ appears designed to placate critics of the student’s Israel criticism.
Back into the FIRE: Hasen’s response to FIRE and Rohde: Don’t read the press clause out of the Constitution — First Amendment News 420
First Amendment News is a weekly blog and newsletter about free expression issues by Ronald K. L. Collins and is editorially independent from FIRE.