Este trabalho debate o significado da liberdade de expressão à luz da teoria política normativa e da instrumentalidade dessa liberdade para a política democrática. Como instrumento da democracia, a liberdade de palavra costuma ser justificada com base na sustentação de dois objetivos: primeiramente, o de promover um debate público robusto e diversificado; em segundo lugar, o de ser um veículo para a realização da igualdade política. Os defensores da perspectiva que aqui analisamos chamada de coletivista-- afirmam que a realização desses objetivos só é possível se a liberdade de expressão é institucionalizada 1)levando em conta não só os interesses expressivos dos indivíduos (seu direito de falar), mas também os interesses expressivos do demos (o interesse a ter acesso a um conjunto diversificado de discursos); e, 2) superando o entendimento da liberdade de expressão como liberdade que se garante exclussivamente contra o Estado. Ao abrir as portas para a discussão de problemas como o estabelecimento de mecanismos de acesso aos meios de comunicação de massa, o poder corrosivo do dinheiro sobre a deliberação pública e os efeitos de expressões de ódio sobre a igualdade política, a teoria coletivista sobre a liberdade de expressão dá ensejo a uma reflexão sobre os diversos significado da igualdade na arena pública. / This thesis debates the significance of freedom of speech as a problem of normative political theory and as an instrument of democratic politics. Under this light, free speech is commonly justified as a way toward two specific goals: promoting a strong and diversified public deliberation and promoting political equality among the citizens. The perspective we consider here --called collectivistsays that unless we are prepeared to consider free speech not only as a negative liberty, but as a positive one, and thet unless free speech is understood not only as as a right of individuals (interest in speaking), but also as right of the community (interest in hearing diverse points of view), its goals will not be achievable. Discussing themes like acces to the media, the corrosive moneys effects on public deliberation and the effects of hate speech on political equility, the collectivist theory reflects on the meanings equiality at the political forum.

Petitions to reject controversial speakers from college campuses would have little effect unless administrators were willing to formally disinvite speakers. So, why are administrators responsive to some movements to exclude certain perspectives from campus and not others? This paper attempts to answer this question through an empirical study of 349 speaker disinvitation attempts on 218 U.S. colleges and universities from 2000 to 2017. I use an original data set with information sourced from the Foundation for Individual Rights and U.S. News and World Report to determine what factors predict a successful formally rescinded invitation. My findings suggest that the forum of the speech, the petitioner type, and speaker type may predict the success of an attempt to disinvite a speaker from college campuses. My empirical results showed that conservative protests are better predictors of success than liberal protests. This paper addresses class bias and complacency with the academic culture in religious institutions as the main influencers causing pundits to ignore free speech politics at less selective, non-secular American colleges and universities.

The ancient Greek terms parrhesia and isegoria are both frequently translated as "free speech" or "freedom of speech". Translating these terms in a straightforward fashion as "free speech" obscures a number of significant differences among what are in truth three very distinct concepts. These dis-analogies may appear unimportant at first glance, but when we understand the central role these concepts play in their respective cultures – more specifically, in their political and legal systems – it becomes clear that small differences in meaning can make a big difference in our ability to grasp the nature of Athenian civic culture. I will outline the most salient of these dis-analogies, and the mistaken conceptions of Athenian political culture that can, and do, result from them. In particular, though the idea of freedom features prominently in parrhesia and isegoria, what freedom amounts to in Athens is sometimes nearly antithetical to what it amounts to in modern liberal republics. Ancient Athenian freedom was the freedom of opportunity. In the case of parrhesia, it was a custom or value which was not a feature of government or law, but part of the Athenian character. The fact that Athenians valued free speaking was formalised in political practice under the democracy through the equal opportunity to address the political assemblies known as isegoria. There was in Athens no explicit or implied protection against the negative consequences of what one said. In contrast, "freedom of speech" means that the individual is protected against the negative consequences of speaking, in particular protected against action by the government to suppress speech and to punish speech after the fact. This difference in what having "freedom" with respect to speech amounts to, makes the translation of isegoria as "freedom of speech" nearly always systematically misleading, and so we should refrain from doing so in any context in which such confusion might be generated. This misunderstanding is compounded by the frequent translation of parrhesia as "freedom of speech" or "free speech". Parrhesia is the name for a certain mode of speech, namely speech which is direct and truthful, and risks negative consequences. As such, it has both positive and negative connotations, and correspondingly was only valued in contexts in which direct truthful speech would be preferable to other modes of speech. Parrhesia was never formalised as isegoria was, since isegoria was a political privilege while parrhesia was merely a mode of expression. In contrast, free speech is legally protected. Speech which is not believed to be valuable is protected, in order to ensure that valuable speech is not suppressed by the powerful through the instruments of government.

No description available.

Guided by Sonja Foss' (2005) theory of visual rhetoric, this thesis is an exploration of political cartoons from Bangladesh, published between October 2016 - October 2020. The study is framed by the Digital Security Act (DSA), an anti-freedom of speech law enacted by the ruling Awami League government in October 2018. The cartoons analyzed in this study are divided into two sets – 16 published in a two-year period prior to the enactment of the DSA, and 16 published within two years after the enactment of the law. A criterion-based sampling technique was used to select cartoons published online by two Bangladeshi cartoonists' – Mehedi Haque and Sadatuddin Ahmed Amil. A thematic analysis of the cartoons revealed that corruption and threats to freedom of expression are recurring themes in both sets of data, while cartoons published pre-DSA also contain commentary on the prime minister and the government's feelings of contentment. Declining democratic practices is a major theme in cartoons published post-DSA. By utilizing the method of visual rhetorical analysis on six cartoons, the study delved deeper into the cartoons' construction of visual arguments for each theme. Finally, a comparative analysis of the themes and visual arguments in cartoons from each data set revealed that cartoons published after October 2018 are differentiated by disappearing characters and storylines, the use of indirect language, and implicit visual arguments, as well as increased usage of metaphors. Cartoons published post-DSA also have a sharper focus on specific news events as indicators of national issues. This study contributes to a growing body of research on the DSA, highlights how a specific medium of expression can be affected by anti-freedom of speech laws, and provides implications for media industries facing legal challenges. / MACOM / Bangladesh, a country in South Asia, is currently following a democratic parliamentary system where Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina is the leader of the government. Her party, Awami League (AL) has been in power since 2008. Since AL's enactment of the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA) in October 2018, a culture of fear has persisted within the country's media industry as well as the public, as the law's vague wording allows people to be charged for the mildest criticism of the government and the PM. Guided by the theory of visual rhetoric (Foss, 2005), this study is framed by the DSA in its analysis of editorial cartoons published online by cartoonists Mehedi Haque and Sadatuddin Ahmed Amil between October 2016 – October 2020. A thematic analysis of cartoons published before and after the enactment of the law shows the major topics that emerge from Bangladeshi political cartoons, such as corruption, threats to freedom of expression, contentment of the government, and declining democratic practices. Visual rhetorical analysis performed on one cartoon that best represents each theme explains in detail how the cartoons use visual arguments to convey their message. Finally, a comparison between the pre- and post-DSA data sets shows that cartoons published after October 2018 are marked by disappearing characters and storylines, the use of indirect language, and implicit visual arguments, as well as increased usage of metaphors. Cartoons published post-DSA also have a sharper focus on specific news events as indicators of national issues. This study adds to developing scholarship on the DSA, highlights how editorial cartoons are affected by anti-free speech laws, and offers insights on the media sector encountering legal challenges.

No description available.

This dissertation explores the role of Internet censorship and circumvention in the Arab world as well as Arabs’ views on the limits to free speech on the Internet. The project involves the creation of an Internet censorship circumvention tool named Alkasir that allows users to report and access certain types of censored websites. The study covers the Arab world at large with special focus on Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. This work is of interdisciplinary nature and draws on the disciplines of media and communication studies and computer science. It uses a pioneering experimental approach by placing Alkasir in the hands of willing users who automatically feed a server with data about usage patterns without storing any of their personal information. In addition to the analysis of Alkasir usage data, Web surveys were used to learn about any technical and nontechnical Internet censorship practices that Arab users and content producers may have been exposed to. The study also aims at learning about users’ experiences with circumvention tools and how such tools could be improved. The study found that users have successfully reported and accessed hundreds of censored social networking, news, dissident, multimedia and other websites. The survey results show that while most Arab informants disapprove censoring online anti-government political content, the majority support the censoring of other types of content such as pornography, hate speech, and anti-religion material. Most informants indicated that circumvention tools should be free of charge, fast and reliable. An increase in awareness among survey respondents of the need for privacy and anonymity features in circumvention solutions was observed.

In this thesis I argue that First Amendment free speech and exercise claims do not grant religious business owners the ability to bypass statutes that prohibit discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity grounds in areas of public accommodations. My arguments focus on the constitutional claims made in the case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Furthermore, I determine that Congress can rely on both the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment to pass legislation that prohibits discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity grounds in areas of public accommodations. I argue that despite the Court’s holding in the Civil Rights Cases, Congress can regulate discrimination by private actors, not just state sponsored discrimination, through the Fourteenth Amendment. I analyze the potential avenues religious business owners can use to undermine both state and federal antidiscrimination statutes and have their discriminatory practices legally sanctioned. I conclude by arguing that religious exemptions do not belong in antidiscrimination statutes.

Much attention has recently been given to K-12 educators and their use of social media. This quantitative study surveyed a targeted sample (n = 543) of known social media users to learn about K-12 educators’ use of social media, their legal knowledge of the First Amendment as it relates to free speech and education, and their dispositions toward the First Amendment. Survey respondents self-reported levels of social media use, completed a legal knowledge section, and responded to a series of items used to gauge their disposition toward the First Amendment. These were analyzed through various demographic and contextual factors in addition to analyses of variance, correlations, and a regression analysis. Findings identified a critical mass of K-12 educators are using social media, and some use social media to a great degree. This sample also reported an overall lack of legal knowledge of the First Amendment as it relates to free speech and education. Additionally, whether or not one had been questioned or chastised about his or her social media use, whether or not one worked for an administration that was “extremely supportive” of social media use, whether or not one had administrative responsibilities, and one’s disposition toward the First Amendment were significant predictors of social media use for the educators in this sample. Findings in this study suggest schools should train and use administrators to educate their K-12 employees about social media use, the First Amendment, and related school policies. Additionally, school policies should not focus on social media use; instead, they should address particular behaviors. Finally, schools intending to embrace social media should seek to employ administrators who are “extremely supportive” of social media use.

<p>Abstract: The purpose with this study is to analyse the political debate about freedom of speech in Sweden and Denmark, after the caricatures of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed that the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten published in September 2005. For this debate four political parties have been chosen. These are: Socialdemokratiska Partiet and Moderata Samlingspartiet in Sweden and Socialdemokraterne and Venstre in Denmark.</p><p>An idea analysis has been chosen as method, and dimensions as an analysing tool. The overall result of the analysis is that right- and left political parties in Sweden and Denmark are more alike, than different in their political debate about free speech. They all wish for total freedom of speech, and see that as the foundation of the democratic society. The difference between the parties is that left parties put more weight on personal responsibility and minorities, than right parties that mostly debate about the meaning of democracy and why freedom of speech should not be restricted.</p>