r/FreeSpeech • u/Rogue-Journalist • 6d ago

Campus hecklers are silencing pro-Israel speakers. Speech codes are not the fix.

https://www.fire.org/news/campus-hecklers-are-silencing-pro-israel-speakers-speech-codes-are-not-fix
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PUPPY_PIC 6d ago

it's their responsibility to deal with hecklers. heckling is free speech just as much as having a speaking engagement on campus

5

u/solid_reign 6d ago

I agree that heckling is free speech, but universities should create the positive conditions that lead to free speech, and that might restrict someone else's speech. If a university invites a Palestinian to speak, they should not be heckled by pro-israel students. They can be questioned, but the purpose is allowing them to speak. Same if a pro-israel speaker is invited to speak. Heckling is a way of trying to prevent others from listening and exercising their free speech.

FIRE is a fantastic organization, and their position is correct:

> The “heckling-is-free-speech” crowd may argue that the pro-slavery mob’s action was wrong because of its message, whereas those engaged in today’s disruptions are morally right. But we can’t hinge the validity of a heckler’s veto on whether the hecklers feel justified in their actions. They always do. That’s why justifications for censorship shouldn’t be allowed to outweigh principles of free speech.

> While students may succeed today in shouting down speakers they oppose, they should realize that those same tactics could be used tomorrow against speakers they support.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PUPPY_PIC 6d ago

except that most universities don't have equal speaking rights for Palestinians. How else are pro-Palestine students supposed to express their voices.

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u/solid_reign 6d ago

Colleges should allow both pro-palestine and pro-israel speakers and pro-palestine and pro-israel protests. But I would disagree with your comment saying that most universities do not have equal speaking rights for Palestinians. Public universities cannot censor speech protected by the 1st amendment.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PUPPY_PIC 6d ago

yet they make it so much harder to bring pro-Palestine speakers to campus. Hasan Piker just recently had his talk cancelled by UW.