Truthout
Free Speech
![Supporters of London for a Free Palestine occupy the foyer of the Department of Business and Trade in protest over the granting of export licenses to arms companies supplying the Israeli military on March 28, 2024, in London, England.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-2119270096-400x300.jpg)
The UK Is Using a New Definition of “Extremism” to Repress Palestine Solidarity
Amid widespread British support for ceasefire, the Conservative government declared civil society groups “extremist.”
![Kids in classroom reciting pledge of allegience](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2024_0129-pledge-400x300.jpg)
Iowa Republicans Forward Bill to Force Students to Stand for National Anthem
“By mandating that they stand, our students’ First Amendment rights would be violated,” one critic of the bill said.
![The Georgia State Capitol is pictured in Atlanta, Georgia.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2024_0124-georgia-400x300.jpg)
Bills in Georgia Aim to Suppress Cop City, Pro-Palestine Activists
“Don’t sleep on this red clay fascism y’all,” one political theorist said.
![NYPD officers stand guard as people gather to protest the banning of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at Columbia University on November 20, 2023, in New York City.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/01/2024_0118-student-palestine-protest-400x300.jpg)
DOE Investigations of Campus “Antisemitism” Suppress Criticism of Gaza Genocide
As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues, Department of Education investigations are chilling dissent at US campuses.
![A truck calling the president of Harvard a "national disgrace" drives around Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 12, 2023.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/01/GettyImages-1843513005-400x300.jpg)
Harvard President’s Ouster Makes Visible the Rising Power of the Far Right
The same forces targeting Palestine solidarity work are trying to end all campus discussions of anticolonial politics.
![Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on December 19, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1868624055-400x300.jpg)
Courts Aren’t Impartial or Apolitical. Trump Is Using That to His Advantage.
Courts treat the First Amendment as Trump’s impenetrable armor, and it has become so.
![(L-R) Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, Liz Magill, President of University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Pamela Nadell, Professor of History and Jewish Studies at American University, and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee on December 5, 2023, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1833213741-400x300.jpg)
Ivy League Presidents at Congress Hearing Threw Student Protesters Under the Bus
Not one of the university leaders questioned the baseless premises of many claims, says professor Nivedita Majumdar.
![Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Elon Musk in New York City](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1258890749-400x300.jpg)
“Free-Speech Absolutist” Musk Is Abetting Modi’s Suppression of Voices in India
Blocking our organizations' X accounts in India is another sign of the Indian government’s attempts to stifle dissent.
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UPenn President Resigns as Right Sets Terms for Repressing Palestine Solidarity
Three university presidents were questioned by Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik at a House Education Committee hearing.
![Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to reporters in the spin room at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, 2023, in Miami, Florida.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2023_1117-ron-desantis-400x300.jpg)
Pro-Palestine Student Group Sues Ron DeSantis for Violating Free Speech Rights
“We have every right to engage in human rights advocacy” on behalf of Palestinians, the student group said.