“Columbia University has launched a Spanish language online global database of freedom of expression case law and court rulings, in partnership with UNESCO, Dejusticia, FLIP (Fundacion para la Liberdad de Prensa), and Universidad Externado de Colombia. The database can be accessed through the following link: https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/espanol “This initiative demonstrates the importance of creating multi-stakeholder synergies in… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Free Speech
Report – Yahoo scanned hundreds of millions of emails for gov surveillance
UK Guardian: “Yahoo last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers’ incoming emails for specific information provided by US intelligence officials, sources have told Reuters. The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security… Continue Reading
How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind – And Changed the History of Free Speech in America
Cameron, Jamie, The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind – And Changed the History of Free Speech in America, by Thomas Healy (August 10, 2016). Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper No. 65/2016. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2821109 “Thomas Healy’s The Great Dissent re-treads the familiar story of US Supreme Court Justice… Continue Reading
Global Trends – Forced Displacement in 2015
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Global Trends – Forced Displacement in 2015 “The total number of refugees has increased for the fifth consecutive year, from 10.4 million at end-2011 – a 55 per cent rise in just four years. This increase was driven mainly by the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which… Continue Reading
New initiative from Privacy International tracks the global surveillance industry
“A new initiative launched today by Privacy International aims to track the growth and scale of the global surveillance industry, a shadowy sector consisting of companies selling a wide range of electronic surveillance technology to government agencies across the world. Made available today is the world’s largest publicly available educational resource of data and documents… Continue Reading
Which countries still outlaw apostasy and blasphemy?
Pew Research Center – “Apostasy and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history. But in dozens of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain on the books and often are enforced…We counted and categorized these laws in 2014 as part of our research for a major report on restrictions on… Continue Reading
House Intelligence Committee Publishes Recently Declassified Redacted Version of “28 Pages”
News release: “Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), under the direction of Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA), approved publication of a newly declassified section of the 2002 Joint Congressional Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. Following a declassification… Continue Reading
Smithsonian Magazine – An Oral History of the March on Washington
Summer 1963 – “The potent symbolism of a demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial—timed to coincide with the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation and following President John F. Kennedy’s announcement in June that he would submit a civil rights bill to Congress—transfixed the nation. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom also catapulted 34-year-old Martin… Continue Reading
CRS – State Voter Identification Requirements
State Voter Identification Requirements: Analysis, Legal Issues, and Policy Considerations. Eric A. Fischer, Senior Specialist in Science and Technology; R. Sam Garrett, Specialist in American National Government; L. Paige Whitaker, Legislative Attorney. July 5, 2016: “About 60% of U.S. voters live in the 33 states that require a voter at a polling place to produce… Continue Reading
House Homeland Security Report – Going Dark, Going Forward: A Primer on the Encryption Debate
June 29, 2016: “Terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have sparked a public debate on the use of encryption in our society because the attackers used encrypted communications to evade detection, a phenomenon known as “going dark.” Today, the Majority Staff of the House Homeland Security Committee released a new report entitled, Going Dark,… Continue Reading
MSU McLellan Free Expression Online Library
“MSU Law’s First Amendment Law Clinic is the only clinical program in the country solely dedicated to the protection of student speech and press rights. Now, a $500,000 donation from leading Michigan attorney and MSU Law Trustee Richard D. McLellan will expand the clinic’s impact nationwide by creating a Free Expression Online Library and Resource… Continue Reading
USNews article – Google as global censor across all its brands
Robert Epstein, June 22, 2016: Google, Inc., isn’t just the world’s biggest purveyor of information; it is also the world’s biggest censor. “…But as the golden gateway to all knowledge, Google has rapidly become an essential in people’s lives – nearly as essential as air or water. We don’t let public utilities make arbitrary and… Continue Reading
