Spring Break
Free speech, says who?
What can, can't be said, subjective. Free speech forum fails to clear up confusion.
By: Matthew Johnson
Issue date: 1/29/09 Section: Opinion
I attended the 11 a.m. session of the "Free Speech: Balancing Freedoms with Our Aggie Values" forum in Rudder. For the most part, I was extremely pleased with the speaker. She had a firm grasp of the legalities regarding free speech and a great deal of personal experience in the area. However, I was bothered by her assessment of the final scenario presented at the forum. I had hoped it would be addressed in the forum because of the similarities with the situation involving a YouTube video at Texas A&M in 2006.
She correctly outlined what is recognized as unprotected speech, yet I fail to see how the A&M video falls under speech inciting pervasive or imminent danger or even threatening. YouTube, much like television, is watched by choice, and if you don't want to watch it, no one will force you to do so. Her assertion that she would approve of the administration seeking disciplinary action was inconsistent with the entire duration of the forum. How is an online video depicting racial hatred at a university (which was supposed to be a parody of poor race relations) any worse than a student newspaper publishing a full page article promoting a revisionist account of the Holocaust (which was protected)? This assertion will have a "chilling effect" on students at the university who might otherwise speak their minds.
The forum clearly pointed out that just because you can, does not necessarily mean you should. I would like to propose a caveat to that assertion: just because you can't, doesn't mean you shouldn't. That is to say, an action is not immoral just because it is against the law. Consider that just 60 years ago, civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks demonstrated this with the utmost courage, and history has vindicated her actions and others of that time.
On another note, I would like to promote the somewhat controversial idea of anonymous free speech. Anonymity on the Internet is a fairly easy endeavor when the right technical and logical precautions are taken such as Internet proxies and not showing your face on camera. I encourage fellow Aggies to do more research on the subject at http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity. The use of anonymous speech is important in the arsenal of anyone who has an unpopular message to make heard.
She correctly outlined what is recognized as unprotected speech, yet I fail to see how the A&M video falls under speech inciting pervasive or imminent danger or even threatening. YouTube, much like television, is watched by choice, and if you don't want to watch it, no one will force you to do so. Her assertion that she would approve of the administration seeking disciplinary action was inconsistent with the entire duration of the forum. How is an online video depicting racial hatred at a university (which was supposed to be a parody of poor race relations) any worse than a student newspaper publishing a full page article promoting a revisionist account of the Holocaust (which was protected)? This assertion will have a "chilling effect" on students at the university who might otherwise speak their minds.
The forum clearly pointed out that just because you can, does not necessarily mean you should. I would like to propose a caveat to that assertion: just because you can't, doesn't mean you shouldn't. That is to say, an action is not immoral just because it is against the law. Consider that just 60 years ago, civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks demonstrated this with the utmost courage, and history has vindicated her actions and others of that time.
On another note, I would like to promote the somewhat controversial idea of anonymous free speech. Anonymity on the Internet is a fairly easy endeavor when the right technical and logical precautions are taken such as Internet proxies and not showing your face on camera. I encourage fellow Aggies to do more research on the subject at http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity. The use of anonymous speech is important in the arsenal of anyone who has an unpopular message to make heard.
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