Wednesday night, police in Ferguson, MO were lobbing Super-Sock cartridges into the crowds gathered to protest the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown. Brown was shot eight times, witnesses say he had his hands in the air. He was shot several times in the back. At the same time, police were tear gassing reporters with … [Read more…]
Political prisoners, in common parlance, are people imprisoned as a result of their political activity. Places such as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and North Korea come to mind when we think about the practice. But more and more, the US is imprisoning people, as well as silencing speech, and telling companies who they can … [Read more…]
A former colleague of mine has, over the years, made a name for himself as a journalist—unfortunately, he shares a name with a white supremacist that’s rather outspoken online. There are surely a few links my colleague would prefer didn’t show up when people google his name. I’d imagine there’s no shortage of people who … [Read more…]
What happened is just so horrific. Elliot Rodger drove through Santa Barbara on Friday night and shot and killed six people, and injured seven others. Now three more bodies have been found, along with a manifesto. Of course everyone wants to know why. And in looking for answers, people have found many records from Rodger’s … [Read more…]
Well, give Miss Representation credit. The inescapable “It’s for the children!” is right there in their petition’s name: Join Our Family To Stop Advertising Hurting Our Kids; Support the Truth In Advertising Act. The proposed bill would require the Federal Trade Commission to regulate advertisers’ use of image alteration, as well as create and maintain what would essentially be … [Read more…]
UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced sentences of up to three years in prison for anyone possessing porn depicting simulated rape. This is all part of an all-out British assault on internet pornography, which includes forcing all new customers of Britain’s two major internet service to choose whether they want all pornographic sites blocked. In addition, Cameron’s … [Read more…]
It appears that American colleges’ speech-censoring chickens have come home to roost, in the form of three dickish white bros. The students filed a racial discrimination complaint after their black, female professor dared try to teach them about structural racism. While no one should support the guys’ desire to remain ignorant about race, some are … [Read more…]
My Talking Points Memo article, Revenge Porn Is Awful, But The Law Against It Is Worse was referenced in a recent Slate article on the topic, How to Make Revenge Porn a Crime. Free speech advocates worry that revenge porn laws are too broad and vague, and thus risk chilling protected speech. Is there a collision here with the First … [Read more…]
It’s hard not to sympathize with victims of so-called “revenge porn.” Hearing women such as Rebekah Wells and Holly Jacobs talk to a concerned Katie Couric about having their bosses and colleagues see them in states of (un)dress entirely inappropriate for the office elicits a feeling of protectiveness. No one who isn’t being paid for it wants … [Read more…]