Navigating Free Speech In the Age of Guns and Elon Musk

Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter, one of the world’s largest social media platforms, and begun removing content controls, Apple corporation is considering not offering Twitter through its app store because of standards violations. Mr. Musk responded by asking “does Apple hate free speech?” In doing so he demonstrated a classic misunderstanding of the First Amendment and a common weaponizing of the term “free speech” to obscure attacks on the rights of minorities and others.

In a new book, You Can't Always Say What You Want: The Paradox of Free Speech, author and language expert Dennis Baron says, “Two forces threaten free speech in America: people who assert their free speech rights in order to suppress the speech of others; and people who exercise their right to bear arms to silence whoever they do not like.” Indeed, as the New York Times recently reported, “Armed Americans, often pushing a right-wing agenda, are increasingly using open-carry laws to intimidate opponents and shut down debate.”

 

 Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience. Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman. RUS airs on Free Speech TV every weekday.

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