Washington State School District Bans Student Protest
North Thurston Public Schools in Lacey, Washington, recently barred students from protesting on its campuses.
States Consider Bills That Threaten Protest Rights
State legislatures considering 68 bills that would limit the right to protest.
NCAC Urges Tennessee Universities to Resist Demands to Censor Student Athletes
NCAC calls on the leaders of the University of Tennessee system to resist political pressure and to defend their students' rights to peacefully protest.
Social Media Under Pressure Part II: Protests, Polarization, and Social Media Regulation
As misinformation proliferates, protests escalate, and the 2020 U.S. presidential election looms, how much should social media companies regulate the content on their platforms? Rules and regulations are changing as social media giants are figuring out how to wield their unprecedented power over information. As an organization committed to free expression, we welcome efforts to provide more information, alternative sources [...]
NCAC URGES STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS TO UPHOLD FREE SPEECH DURING FLOYD PROTESTS
NCAC has signed three letters urging state and local officials to uphold First Amendment rights during the protests over the death of George Floyd. It has joined Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 16 other press freedom, journalism, and civil liberties organizations in calling on Governors Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York, and [...]
Free Speech Under Fire
Free speech is under fire across the United States following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police. The protests that have erupted in hundreds of communities have been met by police officers who often fail in their duty to uphold the First Amendment right to assemble for the purpose of demanding change. Television cameras have [...]
Statement on the Cancellation of American Dirt Book Tour
NCAC disappointed at cancellation of American Dirt book tour. Debate is essential in a free society.
NCAC’s Primer On The Whitney Biennial Controversy: A Timely and Necessary Exchange
In the aftermath of the Whitney Biennial controversy, NCAC has aggregated the best commentary and opinions on the fraught but necessary incident.
Protesting Art: The More the Merrier
It seems like more people are showing up to protest at museums and arts institutions. Is that such a bad thing?
Was a Professor Suspended for Speaking at a Black Lives Matter Protest?
A professor who spoke at a Black Lives Matter protest on her campus was promptly suspended. Now students are demanding that she be reinstated.
SCOTUS Bans Demonstrations on Grounds
The following post was written by NCAC's summer legal intern, Ryan Gander. Ryan is a current student at Columbia Law School. His interests include philosophy, civil liberties, science fiction, and video games. The Supreme Court has a troubled relationship with the First Amendment and that’s not even talking about what goes on in the courtroom. Since 1949, federal law has [...]
Video From Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park Standoff
This morning, we took a moment to capture a bit of the action at Zuccotti Park in the wake of the late night, NYPD eviction of the encampment that had lasted almost two months. Here, a participant in the Occupy Wall Street movement talks about the judge's restraining order stating protestors must be allowed entrance to Zuccotti Park (pending a [...]
NY Times Accused of Spinning Mass Arrest
As #OccupyWallSt continues just blocks from NCAC's offices, Twitter user @FreeSpkr sent us a link to a screenshot being passed around in the wake of Sunday's mass arrest of 700+ protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge:
Hundreds Protest Smithsonian Censorship
This Sunday, Dec 19th, hundreds of artists, curators, queer and free speech activists, as well as other supporters of free speech gathered in front of Metropolitan Museum to take part in a rally demanding that the Smithsonian return the censored video by artist David Wojnarowicz, “A Fire In My Belly,” to the National Portrait Gallery’s Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in [...]
The AETA 4: If this is terrorism, then what isn’t?
While Congress has been busy protecting animals from cruelty at the expense of the First Amendment (See U.S. v Stevens) elsewhere it has been legislating away the First Amendment rights of animal cruelty protesters to protect corporate profits. Last month, a federal court in Northern California heard oral arguments on a motion to dismiss in United States v. Buddenberg, the [...]