Of Fake News, Free Speech, Blasphemy, and Hate
In online liberal mag Salon, Phil Torres argues the United States ought to outlaw hate speech of the sort purveyed by disgraced alt-right superstar Milo Yiannapoulos: [I]f the ultimate goal of public policy is to implement laws that maximize human flourishing, happiness and productivity, one can reasonably argue that certain forms of hate speech should […]
A Man and His Platform
Now that I’ve discussed some of the First Amendment legalisms in Gavin McInnes’ lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center. I’d like to talk about something else: deplatforming. As I write this, attorney Ron Coleman is on Twitter discussing his reasons for representing McInnes. Among them: McInnes devotes quite a bit of energy to this […]
When ‘free speech’ is used to chill free speech
Recently, Here’s Gavin McInnes’ lawsuit against SPLC. (Read the filing here.) One of his attorneys, Ron Coleman, represented the Slants, a band, in a First Amendment suit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Which is to say, Coleman is a serious lawyer, with serious credentials. But that doesn’t mean I agree with […]