Emily Fowler, Campus Reform

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s annual “First Amendment Day” came under fire as being  “a condemnation event on the threat posed by free speech.”

Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, published an article about the Sept. 21 event and equated it to “a collection of vegans assembled to ‘celebrate’ meat-based diets.”

The event was organized by the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy and featured several panels and debates on topics that included ethical conflicts with the First Amendment, social media regulation, and how the First Amendment can be “weaponized.”

One event, titled “Weaponizing First Amendment Rhetoric,” asked “should free expression be what we value beyond everything else in public life, viz. progress, equality, and inclusion?.”

“From internet trolls to election disinformation, people weaponize ‘free speech’ and First Amendment principles to do things like silence women and undermine the legitimacy of elections,” the description stated.

Turley claimed the panel “was clearly designed to offer the opposing view to traditional free speech and First Amendment values, but the lack of a dissenting voice allowed these views to go unchallenged.”

Campus Reform contacted Jonathan Turley, University of North Carolina, and George Washington University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.