HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

The Guardians of Free Speech

Views:1004
@ReasonVids

Because of the social media circus surrounding the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation trial, it was easy to overlook one of the principal—yet least likely—actors in the courtroom drama: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which ghostwrote and placed the 2018 Washington Post op-ed by Heard about surviving domestic abuse that was the basis of the trial.

https://reason.com/video/2022/06/23/as-the-aclu-recedes-from-its-core-mission-fire-expands-to-fill-the-void/
-------------------

It's only the latest example of how the group has in recent years strayed from its original mission of defending speech, no matter how vile. Awash with money after former President Donald Trump was elected, the ACLU transformed into an organization that championed progressive causes, undermining the principled neutrality that helped make it a powerful advocate for the rights of clients ranging from Nazis to socialists.

It questioned the due process rights of college students accused of sexual assault and harassment under Title IX rules. It ran partisan ads against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a move that current Executive Director Anthony Romero told The New York Times was a mistake. The ACLU also called for the federal government to forgive $50,000 per borrower in student loans.

As the ACLU recedes from its mission, enter another free speech organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE. Founded in 1999 to combat speech codes on college campuses, FIRE is expanding to go well beyond the university and changing its name to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The group has raised $29 million toward a three-year "litigation, opinion research and public education campaign aimed at boosting and solidifying support for free-speech values."

"I think there have been better moments for freedom of speech when it comes to the culture," says FIRE's president, Greg Lukianoff. "When it comes to the law, the law is about as good as it's ever been. But when it comes to the culture, our argument is that it's gotten a lot worse and that we don't have to accept it."

Lukianoff tells Reason that FIRE's new initiatives have been in the works for years, but gained urgency during the COVID lockdowns. "Pretty much from day one, people have been asking us to take our advocacy off campus to an extent nationally," he says. "But 2020 was such a scarily bad year for freedom of speech on campus and off, we decided to accelerate that process." Despite 80 percent of campuses being closed and doing instruction remotely, Lukianoff says that FIRE received 50 percent more requests for help from college students and faculty. He also points to The New York Times' editorial page editor, James Bennet, getting squeezed out after running an article by Sen. Tom Cotton (R–Ark.) and high-profile journalists such as Bari Weiss, Andrew Sullivan, and Matt Yglesias "stepping away from their publications, saying that the environment was too intolerant."

FIRE is also expanding its efforts beyond legal advocacy and into promoting what Lukianoff calls "the culture of free speech." As Politico reports, it will spend $10 million "in planned national cable and billboard advertising featuring activists on both ends of the political spectrum extolling the virtues of free speech."

He says that people in their 40s and 50s grew up in a country where the culture of free speech was embedded in colloquial sayings and common attitudes. "Things like everyone's entitled to their opinion, which is something you heard all the time when we were kids. It's a free country, to each their own, statements of deep pluralism, like the idea that you should walk a mile in a man's shoes," he explains. "All of these things are great principles for taking advantage of pluralism, but they've largely sort of fallen out of usage due to a growing skepticism about freedom of speech, particularly on campus, that's been about 40 years in the making."

Lukianoff has nothing negative to say about the ACLU (in fact, he used to work there) and stresses that FIRE has worked with the organization since "day one" and continues to do so. But unlike the ACLU, FIRE isn't at risk of turning into a progressive advocacy organization, partly because its staff is truly bipartisan.

That pluralistic pride extends to the groups funding FIRE, too. Lukianoff thinks that despite the rise of cancel culture, most Americans still understand the value of free speech, but they need to be encouraged to stand up for it. FIRE's polling, he says, reveals that "it's really a pretty small minority, particularly pronounced on Twitter, that is anti-free-speech philosophically and thinks that people should shut up and conform."

For that reason, he's upbeat that FIRE will succeed in helping to restore belief in the value and function of free speech.

Interview by Nick Gillespie. Edited by Regan Taylor.

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
    Thumbnail for CDC: The Movie (COVID parody)2:36
    CDC: The Movie (COVID parody)
    ReasonVids
    932 views
    Thumbnail for Pierre Poilievre will Boycott World Economic Forum if Elected Prime Minister ~ Clyde Do Something12:18
    Pierre Poilievre will Boycott World Economic Forum if Elected Prime Minister ~ Clyde Do Something
    bestofsaidit
    1058 views
    Thumbnail for Ashton Kutcher Helped Promote a Bogus Sex Trafficking Claim. Will We Ever Shake It?3:13
    Ashton Kutcher Helped Promote a Bogus Sex Trafficking Claim. Will We Ever Shake It?
    ReasonVids
    972 views
    Thumbnail for Is Playing Daily Fantasy Sports Any Different From Playing Powerball?8:14
    Is Playing Daily Fantasy Sports Any Different From Playing Powerball?
    ReasonVids
    986 views
    Thumbnail for Walter Cronkite wasn't the Most Trusted Man in America? Q&A with author Joseph Campbell5:44
    Walter Cronkite wasn't the Most Trusted Man in America? Q&A with author Joseph Campbell
    ReasonVids
    925 views
    Thumbnail for More Americans Trust IRS Than Facebook with Privacy: Reason-Rupe Poll September 20134:23
    More Americans Trust IRS Than Facebook with Privacy: Reason-Rupe Poll September 2013
    ReasonVids
    877 views
    Thumbnail for Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway2:53
    Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway
    ReasonVids
    890 views
    Thumbnail for Lessons From LeBron: What Clevelanders Should Really Be Pissed About1:51
    Lessons From LeBron: What Clevelanders Should Really Be Pissed About
    ReasonVids
    868 views
    Thumbnail for Ultra Instinct Goku - Survival Session (Part 2) - M.U.G.E.N.8:39
    Ultra Instinct Goku - Survival Session (Part 2) - M.U.G.E.N.
    memology101
    1295 views
    Thumbnail for Recalled Gov. Gray Davis: Public-Sector Unions "Can't Overtax the System"3:22
    Recalled Gov. Gray Davis: Public-Sector Unions "Can't Overtax the System"
    ReasonVids
    859 views
    Thumbnail for The Disgraceful Shaming of James Watson8:09
    The Disgraceful Shaming of James Watson
    AmericanRenaissance
    1385 views
    Thumbnail for Plausible Theory0:08
    Plausible Theory
    bestofupgoat
    96 views
    Thumbnail for Michael Moynihan's Reason Exit Interview12:07
    Michael Moynihan's Reason Exit Interview
    ReasonVids
    761 views
    Thumbnail for Why Millennials and Gen Z Hate Boomers4:56
    Why Millennials and Gen Z Hate Boomers
    ReasonVids
    880 views
    Thumbnail for Iceland embraced the Minnesota Vikings and even gave them their famous skol chant from their soccer team0:59
    Iceland embraced the Minnesota Vikings and even gave them their famous skol chant from their soccer team
    bestofvoatxyz
    764 views
    Thumbnail for E-Cigarettes and the Law: NJOY's Craig Weiss on Proposed Regulations6:59
    E-Cigarettes and the Law: NJOY's Craig Weiss on Proposed Regulations
    ReasonVids
    900 views
    Thumbnail for Chicago Entrepreneurs: Pitch Your Business Idea & Win Funding!1:01
    Chicago Entrepreneurs: Pitch Your Business Idea & Win Funding!
    IJvids
    941 views
    Thumbnail for smoothing pla with wood PVA wood glue | Prop111:45
    smoothing pla with wood PVA wood glue | Prop1
    invidious
    295 views
    Thumbnail for What We Saw at the Occupy Wall Street Protest6:04
    What We Saw at the Occupy Wall Street Protest
    ReasonVids
    775 views
    Thumbnail for Fat naked sheboon attacks KFC0:33
    Fat naked sheboon attacks KFC
    AOU
    5340 views
    Thumbnail for CATO's David Boaz on What America Can (and Shouldn't) Learn From the French Revolution6:49
    CATO's David Boaz on What America Can (and Shouldn't) Learn From the French Revolution
    ReasonVids
    868 views
    Thumbnail for Not Your Classic Styled Zeepkist Level - Kick or Clutch Ep. 386 | OwlPlague11:52
    Not Your Classic Styled Zeepkist Level - Kick or Clutch Ep. 386 | OwlPlague
    invidious
    335 views
    Thumbnail for How to find FREE 3D Printing models using search engines | Maker's Muse8:50
    How to find FREE 3D Printing models using search engines | Maker's Muse
    invidious
    414 views
    Thumbnail for More and more people are showing signs of Nigger Fatigue.0:42
    More and more people are showing signs of Nigger Fatigue.
    AOUisgay
    458 views
    Thumbnail for 🔥 Cozy Fireplace And Relaxing Christmas Music (12 HOURS). Fireplace with Crackling Fire Sounds🎁 2024 | Soothing Christmas Music1:00
    🔥 Cozy Fireplace And Relaxing Christmas Music (12 HOURS). Fireplace with Crackling Fire Sounds🎁 2024 | Soothing Christmas Music
    invidious
    329 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle