SOAPBOX tickets out now! Sam Abrams on the effects of Minneapolis in the classroom; Jacob Mchangama on Europe’s ‘Maduro Moment’; & more!
Bringing you the latest free speech news (2/8/26)
Story of the week
The civil rights movement’s moral power came from asymmetry — nonviolent demonstrators versus the clubs and hoses turned against them. That clarity made the injustice undeniable to persuadable observers. But that strategy depended on a shared assumption: that bearing witness, that appealing to conscience, that speaking, even in the face of brutality, could eventually prevail.
Europe’s Maduro Moment (The Bedrock Principle) by FIRE Senior Fellow Jacob Mchangama
These days, almost any initiative—however coercive—can be packaged as a heroic defense of “democracy” and “digital sovereignty” (two concepts that until recently were seen as hard to reconcile) against evil tech oligarchs.
What’s more startling is how many people, media outlets, and civil society institutions cheer politicians who promise to “hold social media accountable,” without pausing to ask what that “accountability” actually means in practice.
This week in ERI
How we’re ensuring truth-seeking and critical thinking in the Age of AI by John Coleman & Cosmos Institute
This week in Expression
The secret war against student journalists by Marie McMullan
The paper was her lifeboat — UMD called it interference by Marie McMullan
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (of protected speech) by Aaron Terr
Maybe the FBI’s Signal investigation will quietly fade away. But the chilling effect will remain. It was bad enough when, during Joe Biden’s presidency, the FBI pressured social media companies to censor protected speech deemed dangerously misleading. Now the bureau is treating protected speech on an encrypted messaging app as grounds for criminal investigation.
This isn’t just about opposition to ICE. It’s about the right of every American to criticize, discuss, protest, observe, and document what the government is doing, regardless of who is in power or what the cause is.
This week on So to Speak
This week, FIRE EVP & So to Speak host Nico Perrino was joined by Cato Institute Senior VP of Legal Studies Clark Neily, William & Mary Law School Professor of Government and Citizenship Tim Zick, and FIRE Supervising Senior Attorney Conor Fitzpatrick to discuss the Trump administration’s free speech track record as well as recent ICE protests.
This week in FIRE’s blog
London Calling: Ronnie’s First Amendment Roundup
Court reaffirms the government may not “act as the guardian of public morality by banishing the word Fuck from the public square”
Funny how turbulent times can make one crave nostalgic comfort, like for a good cover band competently playing the hits. Here, a Punta Gorda police officer’s ticket to a protester under local law barring public display of obscene signs, for standing on a sidewalk with “Fuck Trump” and “Fuck Biden” signs while wearing a “Fuck Policing 4 Profit” shirt, led to a legal challenge that the citation violated the First Amendment as unconstitutional retaliation and viewpoint discrimination—and a central Florida federal court rejecting efforts to have the case dismissed. The officer invoked qualified immunity, which protects state actors from civil liability unless they infringe someone’s constitutional rights in violation of clearly established law that any reasonable officer would know. But the court denied the defense, holding it’s been settled since the Supreme Court’s 1971 decision in Cohen v. California, as reinforced most recently by the Court in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. in 2021, that you can’t punish people just for saying “fuck.” The court’s closing paragraph, excerpted in relevant part below, is a nice coda:
Civility is a virtue, but it is not a legal requirement for political protest. When Officer Lipker cited Sheets for his choice of vocabulary, he ignored well-settled precedent protecting the very speech he sought to punish. He is not entitled to qualified immunity for that error. However, because the City has wisely retreated from the ordinance that started this dispute, there is no longer a law for this Court to enjoin. We therefore let the claims against Officer Lipker proceed … while burying the facial challenge ….
Bonus Case #1: In Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. District of Columbia, the federal court in D.C. (having already granted a preliminary injunction) denied school officials qualified immunity on First Amendment and related claims relating to rescission of recognized student organization status to FCA due to its rule that its student leaders must agree with the group’s core Christian beliefs, holding the Supreme Court cases Widmar v. Vincent, Rosenberger v. University of Virgina and Christian Legal Society v. Martinez clearly establish it’s unconstitutional to selectively enforce nondiscrimination policies to deny status to student groups that require their leaders to share specific religious views.
Bonus Case #2: And in Dickinson a/k/a the Portland Chicken, et al. v. Trump, on finding unconstitutional retaliation against various First Amendment-protected activities, the federal court in Oregon granted a temporary restraining order barring Department of Homeland Security agents from using force against protesters and press who do not pose an imminent threat—and, yes, that includes lead plaintiff, who regularly protests in a chicken costume with an American flag cape—after plaintiffs alleged use of chemical munitions, pepper balls, tear gas, and mace against nonthreatening protesters and media members outside the Portland ICE Building.
International free speech stories of the week
Prominent UK activist arrested at London protest for ‘Globalize the intifada’ sign (Times of Israel)
In Iran, funerals are the new battleground (Index on Censorship) by Jemimah Steinfeld
Just when you think Iranian authorities couldn’t get crueller, you hear this: they’re extorting families out of huge sums of money in exchange for the bodies of murdered loved ones. Under the so-called “bullet price” – a practice dating back to the 1980s – the authorities have not only exacted money from grieving relatives they have ordered them to hold subdued funerals and even denounce the dead.
Spain wants to prohibit social media for under-16s, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. Greece is close to announcing a similar ban for children under 15, a senior government source said.
But Sanchez also said his government would create a law to hold social media executives personally responsible for hate speech on their platforms.
Conference of the Year (or Century!)
This week, FIRE released tickets for SOAPBOX 2026. Whether you’re a longtime advocate or new to the movement, I hope you’ll consider joining us in Philadelphia — the birthplace of liberty & FIRE — November 4-6 for inspiring keynotes, timely panels, and priceless opportunities for connecting with fellow free speech-lovers, all culminating with a show-stopping gala celebration. Buy your ticket today!
Soapbox sounds awesome! If I wasn't already planning to attend several other events this year, I'd absolutely attend.