Turkey Blocks Access to Twitter

As of November 13, Turkey has officially banned access to Reddit due to a highly contentious censorship law. Reddit, a social media site, allows users to freely converse about current events, photos, viral posts, etc.

This is a prime example of how governments in different countries are inhibiting individuals’ ability to communicate openly, therefore diminishing free speech entirely.  Due to the power of the Turkish government, the individuals in power withheld access to this website without warning, creating a disadvantage for the affected individuals in an ability to protest the law. According to a Turkish government website, “after technical analysis and legal consideration ... administration measure has been taken for this website." The government banned the website for sensational, and scandalous content in order to eliminate any controversial discourse. However, when individuals lack the ability to converse over controversial topics, they do not receive multiple perspectives of news, current events, and “hot” topics that affect the lives of individuals on a global scale.

Individuals must be able to hear opposing views in order to become educated on political and social topics, even if they are controversial and sensationalized. Although Reddit is not a primary, reliable “news source”, it is important because it creates an interest for individuals to become interested to debate and discussion on social forums. In Freedom for the Thought that We Hate, Lewis explains this notion, using John Stuart Mill as an example. He explains, “John Stuart Mill, in his ‘On Liberty’ in 1859, argued that a suppressed opinion may contain a whole or partial truth that society needs. Even a false belief is valuable, he argued, because the process of debate about it may test and confirm the truth of the opposing view” (Lewis, 184-185). Therefore, although it can be argued that debate on this website regarding current events may perpetuate “false beliefs”, individuals still benefit from internalizing readily available information that is given to them on a website. This is because social platforms such as Reddit sensationalize the news, yet creates awareness for individuals to learn more about events that they may have not heard or read about otherwise.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/14/9734910/turkey-reddit-internet-ban

Carly Chalmers

Jailing a Holocaust denier: Is this justice or free speech overkill?

The United States is a free and open society in many ways, especially in the area of free speech. Indeed, as Anthony Lewis has written, the U.S. is "the most outspoken society on earth."

Not so in other countries, even U.S. allies like Germany, where it is against the law to publicly deny the Holocaust. According to Britian's Daily Mail, a German grandmother is facing jail time for doing just that.

Is this good public policy even in Germany? Does it really makes sense to send this woman to jail for ten months? What do you think?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3317083/German-grandmother-87-sentenced-ten-months-jail-denying-Holocaust-saying-Auschwitz-just-labour-camp.html

Ohio Man arrested for soliciting the murder of U.S. military members

        This article deals with a man from Akron, Ohio who was arrested on federal charges of soliciting the murders of U.S. military members. Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio, and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI's Cleveland Division announced the charge. Based off allegations in the complaint, Terrence McNeil, the accused, "solicited the murder of members of our military by disseminating ISIL's violent rhetoric, circulating detailed U.S. military personnel information, and explicitly calling for the killing of American service members in their homes and communities," (Ohio man arrested).

      According to the details of the charge, McNeil took to a Tumblr account where he re-blogged a gif file containing the banner "Islamic State Hacking Division", which was then followed by "Target: United States Military" and "Leak: Addresses of 100 U.S. Military Personnel." The first part of the gif file contained the message: "O Brothers in America, know that the jihad against the crusaders is not limited to the lands of the Khilafah, it is a world-wide jihad and their war is not just a war against the Islamic State, it is a war against Islam…Know that it is wajib (translated to "necessary") for you to kill these kuffar! and now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for? Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe…" (Ohio Man Arrested). This message was then followed by photos of US Military personnel, which contained their names, address, and military branch. The final part of the gif contained a knife and gun, with the words "kill them wherever you find them"

    This case is a huge deal because it crosses the line of free speech. Although the first amendment protects the right to free speech, McNeil went to far because he posted the names of more than 100 military personnel, all with the intent to have them killed. This case is currently being investigated by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, and will be prosecuted in the near future. 

By Jalen Manning


Link to Story: http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/crime/2015/11/12/ohio-man-arrested-for-soliciting-the-murder-of-us-military-members/75655190/

First Amendemnt (Government Threats)

Johnell Celistan

Although freedom of expression is the foundation of what America has built its governmental policy on, some policies are set to regulate these freedoms. One case of this involves a FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter according to FoxNews.com. She’s in a situation where she potentially can face jail time because she received information regarding a notebook that was allegedly kept by James Holmes, the accused shooter in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting back in the summer of 2012, according to FoxNews.com. She refuses to give up her sources to protect the witness and potential witnesses who want to keep themselves anonymous. The freedom of press is what is being regulated in this case, involving the government and reporter Jana Winter. Her freedom to report stories without giving up her anonymous source who told her the story is what is being challenged by the courts. She can argue that her first amendment right is being controlled. According to FoxNews.com, Colorado has a law in place called the Shield Law, which protects reporters from being forced to reveal their sources. FoxNews also reports that, “Media and First Amendment advocates say such laws are crucial to allowing journalists to do their jobs, and that without them, people with information of public interest would be afraid to speak and news outlets would be chilled from informing the public.” The shield law not only protects journalist but it protects those who refuse to display their identity to the public.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/06/first-amendment-issues-involved-in-fox-news-reporter-case/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/05/free-press-fight-how-fox-news-reporter-wound-up-facing-jail-for-doing-job/

Government Threats

Government and Private Surveillance Growing Threat to Americans

This article focuses on Americans rights to privacy and how they might be taken away due to the government. The fourth amendment states, “The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall no be violated”, this is the kind of nation our founders envisioned, but this is being battered everyday. The government is nonchalantly stalking our every move. Every time we use our computers, phones, or tablets it is tracked, along with what we use them for. Thanks to revelations by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, we know this U.S. spy agency employs a “collect it all” strategy when gathering information on our personal cellphone and online activities. Since 9/11, the NSA has used secret contracts with telecommunication giants and covert splicing into their communication cables to intercept Internet and cellphone information on hundreds of millions of Americans and foreigners who are not terrorist or criminal suspects. For the most part people think this is a good way to keep our country safe but others agree that it has gone to far. People should be allowed to search what they please on the Internet without being watched. The government noting everything we do is a threat to us because it is questioning our rights to live in peace.

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/viewpoints/the-end-of-privacy-government-and-private-surveillance-pose-a-growing-threat-to-americans-20140510

Brooke Berryhill

Journalist Shield Law: A Governmental Threat to Free Speech

Recently, Ted Cruz has talked about the government’s control of the internet as a threat to free speech. He referenced the Journalist “shield law” that claims to give journalists more protection by protecting them from being forced to reveal their sources; however, the threat to free speech arose when a Democratic Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, “wanted to only extend the protection to ‘real reporters’ and not, a 17-year-old with his own website.” She said that she could not support the bill if “everyone who has a blog has a special privilege.” Now, I’m no legal scholar, but I’m pretty sure the First Amendment freedom of the press and speech is not considered a special privilege. Senator Feinstein went on to say that she wanted to define journalists as people that get paid a salary to report news; thus ensuring that no one else is covered under the proposed bill. The article poses the very relevant question that if journalist was so narrowly defined, then would the federal government “take measures to force bloggers, who have been key to exposing corruption in government over the past decade, to go to journalism school so that they can get their reports approved by the White House before publishing them?” The issue here is that 17-year-olds with blogs should have the same freedom of speech and press as a paid journalist.

By: Megan Grier

Here are the sources that I used:

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/04/09/the-senates-media-shield-law-is-toothless-and-arbitrary

http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/10/cruz-government-control-of-internet-is-threat-to-free-speech/

http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/09/feinstein-wants-define-journalist/

Tennessee School District Bans All Flags To Avoid Confederate Flag Debate

Due to the recent controversy surrounding the Confederate battle flag being flown in Southern States, everybody who remotely cares about the subject is on edge. This is undoubtedly why this school district in Tennessee decided to avoid the problem altogether and put a blanket ban on students flying flags from their vehicles in general. While this situation is, obviously, not the same as a national government incident, it is still an instance of a government restricting free speech as a solution to disagreement.

What this policy does is remove all speech from the picture–neither side can have a say in the usual discourse. While this is done in an attempt to curb damage, ultimately it does more harm than good. According to Milton, this effective shutdown of debate is unhealthy for society, particularly one that relies so heavily on the democratic process.

Read the story here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/24/tennessee-school-district-bans-flags-including-ame/

Kyle Doud