By examining the highly contested legal debate about the regulation of pornography through an epistemic lens, this book analyzes competing claims about the proper role of speech in our society, pornography's harm, the relationship between speech and equality, and whether law should regulate and, if so, upon what grounds. In maintaining that inegalitarian pornography generates discursive effects, the book contends that law cannot simply adopt a libertarian approach to free speech. While inegalitarian pornography may not be determinative of gender inequality, it does contribute, reinforce, reflect and help maintain such unfairness. As a result, we can place reasonable gender-based regulations on inegalitarian pornography while upholding our most treasured commitments to dissident speech just as other liberal democracies with strong free speech traditions have done.

Ten years after publication of the first edition of Timothy Shiell's pathbreaking study, restrictions on faculty and student speech on college campuses continue to be hotly contested in the mainstream media, on the internet, in the journals of academic disciplines, in courtrooms, classrooms, and chatrooms. This revised edition adds substantial new material that updates cases and conflicts during the past decade, expands the original's coverage of the relevant literature, and dramatically reinforces Shiell's original argument.

In the first edition Shiell noted that, despite commitments to free speech and the open exchange of ideas, American colleges and universities had increasingly ignored such principles by implementing numerous hate speech codes designed to protect students from racial, sexual, and other forms of harassment. Taking their cue from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which guarantees the right to a non-hostile workplace environment, those regulations had posed seemingly unresolvable conflicts between the ideals of free speech and equal protection.

Shiell explored both sides of the fiery debate over campus hate speech codes to bring out their philosophical and legal underpinnings, clarifying classic free speech arguments as well as the ideas of harm and hostile environment, and analyzing numerous case histories. Pointing out that Title VII wasn't meant to apply to academia, Shiell also encouraged readers to consider the role of the courts in eliminating prejudice in this setting and presented a strong argument for the form the codes themselves should ideally take.

The new edition adds substantial new material on developments concerning the Deterrence Argument, the hostile environment approach, new judicial decisions, and the International Argument. It also updates the comprehensive bibliography and list of legal decisions, significantly increasing the value of both for scholars and policymakers alike.

Shiell eloquently makes the case that campus speech codes--no matter how well grounded in history, law, or philosophy--have tended to be overbroad, arbitrarily enforced, and used selectively to protect only certain groups at the expense of others. For that reason especially, his book will continue to challenge academics and general readers to reconsider how we deal with this important issue.

Many scholars have endured the struggle against rising anti-Israel sentiments on college and university campuses worldwide. This volume of personal essays documents and analyzes the deleterious impact of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the most cherished Western institutions. These essays illustrate how anti-Israelism corrodes the academy and its treasured ideals of free speech, civility, respectful discourse, and open research. Nearly every chapter attests to the blurred distinction between anti-Israelism and antisemitism, as well as to hostile learning climates where many Jewish students, staff, and faculty feel increasingly unwelcome and unsafe. Anti-Zionism on Campus provides a testament to the specific ways anti-Israelism manifests on campuses and considers how this chilling and disturbing trend can be combatted.

Today should be a Golden Age for free speech - with technology providing more ways of communicating ideas and opinions than ever before. Yet we're actually witnessing a growing wave of restrictions on freedom of thought and expression. In Having Your Say a variety of authors - academics, philosophers, comedians and more - stress the fundamental importance of free speech, one of the cornerstones of classical liberalism. And they provide informed and incisive insights on this worrying trend, which threatens to usher in a new, intolerant and censorious era.

In our latest issue, we look at the impact of the Russia revolution of 1917 on the world today. From propaganda, film and literature as well as politics our correspondents report from all corners of the globe including Uzbekistan, China, Russia and Turkey. Writers for this issue include David Aaronovitch on film, Khrushchev's great grand daughter Nina Khrushcheva on living in the USA, and an interview with author Margaret Atwood on a free speech wall, science censorship and her childhood in the wilderness.

Ideas die at the hands of journalists. This is the controversial thesis offered by Michael McDevitt in a sweeping examination of anti-intellectualism in American journalism. A murky presence, anti-intellectualism is not acknowledged by reporters and editors. It is not easily measured by scholars, as it entails opportunities not taken, context not provided, ideas not examined. Where Ideas Go to Die will be the first book to document how journalism polices intellect at a time when thoughtful examination of our society's news media is arguably more important than ever. Through analysis of media encounters with dissent since 9/11, McDevitt argues that journalism engages in a form of social control, routinely suppressing ideas that might offend audiences. McDevitt is not arguing that journalists are consciously or purposely controlling ideas, but rather that resentment of intellectuals and suspicion of intellect are latent in journalism and that such sentiment manifests in the stories journalists choose to tell, or not to tell. In their commodification of knowledge, journalists will, for example, "clarify" ideas to distill deviance; dismiss nuance as untranslatable; and funnel productive ideas into static, partisan binaries. Anti-intellectualism is not unique to American media. Yet, McDevitt argues that it is intertwined with the nation's cultural history, and consequently baked into the professional training that occurs in classrooms and newsrooms. He offers both a critique of our nation's media system and a way forward, to a media landscape in which journalists recognize the prevalence of anti-intellectualism and take steps to avoid it, and in which journalism is considered an intellectual profession.

During the Cold War, writers and artists were faced with a huge challenge. In the Soviet world, they were expected to turn out works that glorified militancy, struggle and relentless optimism. In the West, freedom of expression was vaunted as liberal democracy's most cherished possession. But such freedom could carry a cost. This book documents the extraordinary energy of a secret campaign in which some of the most vocal exponents of intellectual freedom in the West became instruments - whether they knew it or not, whether they liked it or not - of America's secret service.

In these seventeen essays, distinguished senior scholars discuss the conceptual issues surrounding the idea of freedom of inquiry and scrutinize a variety of obstacles to such inquiry that they have encountered in their personal and professional experience. Their discussion of threats to freedom traverses a wide disciplinary and institutional, political and economic range covering specific restrictions linked to speech codes, the interests of donors, institutional review board licensing, political pressure groups, and government policy, as well as phenomena of high generality, such as intellectual orthodoxy, in which coercion is barely visible and often self-imposed. As the editors say in their introduction: "No freedom can be taken for granted, even in the most well-functioning of formal democracies. Exposing the tendencies that undermine freedom of inquiry and their hidden sources and widespread implications is in itself an exercise in and for democracy."

In recent years the subject of freedom of expression has become a topic of heated debate. "Freedom of Expression in Islam" offers the first and only detailed presentation in English of freedom of expression from both the legal and moral perspectives of Islam. This work is a pioneering attempt in examining both the evidence on freedom of expression in the sources of the "Shari'ah" and the limitations, whether moral, legal or theological, that Islam imposes on the valid exercise of this freedom. "Freedom of Expression in Islam "is informative not only on the subject of the possibilities of freedom of expression within Islam, but also on the cultural tradition of Islam and its guidelines on social behaviour. "Freedom of Expression in Islam" is part of a series dedicated to the fundamental rights and liberties in Islam and should be read in conjunction with "The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective" and "Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam."

When we observe protest marches, striking workers at pickets, and insurgent movements in the world today, a litany of objects routinely fill our field of vision. Some such objects are ubiquitous the world over, such as flags, banners, and placards. Others are situationally unique: who could have anticipated the historical importance of a flower placed in the barrel of a gun, a flaming torch, a sea of umbrellas, a motorist’s yellow vest, a feather headdress, an AK-47, or a knitted pink hat? This book explores the “stuff” at the heart of protests, revolutions, civil wars, and other contentious political events. In particular, its focus is on those objects that have or acquire symbolic importance. In the context of “contentious politics” (i.e. disruptive political episodes where people try to change societies without going through institutions), such objects can divide and unite social groups, tell stories, make declarations, spark controversy, and even trigger violent upheavals.This book draws together scholars from a variety of fields to discuss symbolic objects in contentious politics: their meanings, uses, functions, and social responses. Its purpose in doing so is threefold. The authors believe that: (1) objects and materiality have been underrepresented and under-theorized in the study of contentious politics broadly defined; (2) various individual subfields—such as social movement studies, peace and conflict studies, and scholarship on revolutions, terrorism, and (counter)insurgency—could gain much from further consideration of symbolic objects; and (3) there is much to be gained from having these subfields in conversation on the topic. In bringing these phenomena together, this book offers a serious, distinctive, and cohesive theoretical contribution, which draws upon diverse scholarly work in order to form the building blocks for future inquiry in the field. The aim of this book is not merely to “close the gap” in the literature, but to create space in the field for further and more fruitful inquiry.

What is the relationship between psychoanalysis and human freedom? Does psychoanalysis enhance it? Is it coercive? What are the limits? These may appear to be deceptively simple questions, but Roger Kennedy addresses them head-on. He draws on his own clinical work to shed light on conceptions of freedom and how they relate to the psychoanalytic process. Ideas from ancient, medieval, 17th-century, Enlightenment and recent philosophy, including hermeneutics, are employed in his explorations. He also addresses himself to recent pessimistic and postmodernist writings on culture and the human condition.

How disputes over privacy and security have shaped the relationship between the European Union and the United States and what this means for the future We live in an interconnected world, where security problems like terrorism are spilling across borders, and globalized data networks and e-commerce platforms are reshaping the world economy. This means that states' jurisdictions and rule systems clash. How have they negotiated their differences over freedom and security? Of Privacy and Power investigates how the European Union and United States, the two major regulatory systems in world politics, have regulated privacy and security, and how their agreements and disputes have reshaped the transatlantic relationship. The transatlantic struggle over freedom and security has usually been depicted as a clash between a peace-loving European Union and a belligerent United States. Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman demonstrate how this misses the point. The real dispute was between two transnational coalitions-one favoring security, the other liberty-whose struggles have reshaped the politics of surveillance, e-commerce, and privacy rights. Looking at three large security debates in the period since 9/11, involving Passenger Name Record data, the SWIFT financial messaging controversy, and Edward Snowden's revelations, the authors examine how the powers of border-spanning coalitions have waxed and waned. Globalization has enabled new strategies of action, which security agencies, interior ministries, privacy NGOs, bureaucrats, and other actors exploit as circumstances dictate. The first serious study of how the politics of surveillance has been transformed, Of Privacy and Power offers a fresh view of the role of information and power in a world of economic interdependence.

The influence of media on society is unquestioned. Its reach penetrates nearly every corner of the world and every aspect of life. But it has also been a contested realm, embodying class politics and the interests of monopoly capital. In The Political Economy of Media, one of the foremost media critics of our time, Robert W. McChesney, provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic and political powers that are being mobilized to consolidate private control of media with increasing profit -- all at the expense of democracy.

In this elegant and lucid collection, McChesney examines the monopolistic competition that has created a global media that is ever more concentrated and centralized. McChesney reveals why questions about the ownership of commercial U.S. media remain off limits within the political culture; how private ownership of media leads to the degradation of journalism and suppression of genuine debate; and why corporate rule threatens democracy by failing to provide the means for an educated and informed citizenry. The Political Economy of Media also highlights resistance to corporate media over the last century, including the battle between broadcasters and the public in the 1920s and 1930s and the ongoing media reform movement today. The Political Economy of Media makes it clear that the struggle over the ownership and the role of media is of utmost importance to everyone.

From videos of rights violations, to satellite images of environmental degradation, to eyewitness accounts disseminated on social media, human rights practitioners have access to more data today than ever before. To say that mobile technologies, social media, and increased connectivity are having a significant impact on human rights practice would be an understatement. Modern technology - and the enhanced access it provides to information about abuse - has the potential to revolutionise human rights reporting and documentation, as well as the pursuit of legal accountability. However, these new methods for information gathering and dissemination have also created significant challenges for investigators and researchers. For example, videos and photographs depicting alleged human rights violations or war crimes are often captured on the mobile phones of victims or political sympathisers. The capture and dissemination of content often happens haphazardly, and for a variety of motivations, including raising awareness of the plight of those who have been most affected, or for advocacy purposes with the goal of mobilising international public opinion. For this content to be of use to investigators it must be discovered, verified, and authenticated. Discovery, verification, and authentication have, therefore, become critical skills for human rights organisations and human rights lawyers. This book is the first to cover the history, ethics, methods, and best-practice associated with open source research. It is intended to equip the next generation of lawyers, journalists, sociologists, data scientists, other human rights activists, and researchers with the cutting-edge skills needed to work in an increasingly digitized, and information-saturated environment.

Iconoclasm, Identity Politics and the Erasure of History surveys the origins, uses and manifestations of iconoclasm in history, art and public culture. It examines the various causes and uses of image/property defacement as a tool of political, national, religious and artistic process. This is one of the first books to examine the outbreak of iconoclasm in Europe and North America in the summer of 2020 in the context of previous outbreaks, and it examines the implications of iconoclasm as a form of control, censorship and expression.

This is a popular guide to the Freedom of Information Act, now updated in a new edition. Have you ever wanted to force open the secretive doors of government? This book provides all the tools you need. With a new foreword by Ian Hislop, it's also fully updated to include: new chapters on Scotland and the law in practice; tips for digging out information and new template letters; an expanded and updated directory; examples of case law that you can use in your quest for answers; and an expanded business chapter to help you get contracts, tenders and performance evaluations. Information is born free, but everywhere is in chains. Heather Brooke has written the Information Liberation Front guide to end the politicians' enslavement of the facts which belong to the public. Bravo. - Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Even with my knowledge of Britain's secretive and undemocratic system of government, I found this book to be an eye opener.

Catalan-language publishers were under constant threat during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975). Both the Catalan language and the introduction of foreign ideas were banned by the regime, preoccupied as it was with creating a "one, great and free Spain." Books against Tyranny examines the period through its censorship laws and censors' accounts by means of intertextuality, an approach that aims to shed light on the evolution of Francoism's ideological thought. The documents examined here includes firsthand witness accounts, correspondence, memoirs, censorship files, newspapers, original interviews, and unpublished material housed in various Spanish archives. As such, the book opens up the field and serves as an informative tool for scholars of Franco's Spain, Catalan social movements, or censorship more generally.

There has been a war against the American people for many decades. These aggressors are not camped out in some far away land with heat and sand or jungle and vicious insects but rather they are in corporate board rooms and in penthouse apartments; some even sit in elected offices wearing an American flag pin, all the while plotting to further destroy the principals that we once stood for as a nation. This war is to eradicate the fundamental principles that our forefathers both rich and poor sacrificed and risked everything to birth our nation. This book will cover much of the assaults against us as a nation and bring to bear the responsibility to the hearts of the American people to make a proactive effort to stand together to change their lives and the world around them. Some will call this book sedition and some will call it our freedom of speech. You the reader will be the final judge of the contents of this book.

At the turn of the twentieth century, American journalists transmitted news across the country by telegraph. But what happened when these stories weren't true? In Bad News Travels Fast, Patrick C. File examines a series of libel cases by a handful of plaintiffs - including socialites, businessmen, and Annie Oakley - who sued newspapers across the country for republishing false newswire reports. Through these cases, File demonstrates how law and technology intertwined to influence debates about reputation, privacy, and the acceptable limits of journalism. This largely forgotten era in the development of American libel law provides crucial historical context for contemporary debates about the news media, public discourse, and the role of a free press. File argues that the legal thinking surrounding these cases laid the groundwork for the more friendly libel standards the press now enjoys and helped to establish today's regulations of press freedom amid the promise and peril of high-speed communication technology.

As digital technology continues to transform the culture of activism and access to information - from revolution in Egypt to reporting on the secret services in Russia - Index on Censorship assesses the ways and means of using new media to get the word out and asks if the United States is internet freedom's best friend. Index on Censorship is an award-winning magazine, devoted to protecting and promoting free expression. International in outlook, outspoken in comment, Index on Censorship reports on free expression violations around the world, publishes banned writing and shines a light on vital free expression issues through original, challenging and intelligent commentary and analysis, publishing some of the world's finest writers. Winner 2008 Amnesty International Consumer Magazine of the Year

How digital media are transforming Arab culture, literature, and politics In recent years, Arab activists have confronted authoritarian regimes both on the street and online, leaking videos and exposing atrocities, and demanding political rights. Tarek El-Ariss situates these critiques of power within a pervasive culture of scandal and leaks and shows how cultural production and political change in the contemporary Arab world are enabled by digital technology yet emerge from traditional cultural models. Focusing on a new generation of activists and authors from Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, El-Ariss connects WikiLeaks to The Arabian Nights, Twitter to mystical revelation, cyberattacks to pre-Islamic tribal raids, and digital activism to the affective scene-making of Arab popular culture. He shifts the epistemological and historical frameworks from the postcolonial condition to the digital condition and shows how new media challenge the novel as the traditional vehicle for political consciousness and intellectual debate. Theorizing the rise of "the leaking subject" who reveals, contests, and writes through chaotic yet highly political means, El-Ariss investigates the digital consciousness, virality, and affective forms of knowledge that jolt and inform the public and that draw readers in to the unfolding fiction of scandal. Leaks, Hacks, and Scandals maps the changing landscape of Arab modernity, or Nahda, in the digital age and traces how concepts such as the nation, community, power, the intellectual, the author, and the novel are hacked and recoded through new modes of confrontation, circulation, and dissent.

BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2022, NEW STATESMAN & CITY AM Chosen as one of the Financial Time's Best Summer Books of 2022 Longlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing 'Compelling, powerful and necessary.' Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism 'Fascinating' Guardian Without a moment's pause, we share our most intimate thoughts with trillion-dollar tech companies. Their algorithms categorize us and jump to troubling conclusions about who we are. They also shape our everyday thoughts, choices and actions - from who we date to whether we vote. But this is just the latest front in an age-old struggle. Part history and part manifesto, Freedom to Think explores how the powerful have always sought to influence how we think and what we buy. Connecting the dots from Galileo to Alexa, human rights lawyer Susie Alegre charts the history and fragility of our most important human right: freedom of thought. Filled with shocking case-studies across politics, criminal justice, and everyday life, this ground-breaking book shows how our mental freedom is under threat like never before. Bold and radical, Alegre argues that only by recasting our human rights for the digital age can we safeguard our future.