The topic of free speech loomed large in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> conversation on Monday featuring <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/robert-f-kennedy-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>, the scion of American political royalty, longtime liberal activist, and upstart Democratic presidential candidate.
Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> invited Kennedy, who some polls show has as much as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/25/politics/cnn-poll-democrats-2024/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20% support among Democrats</a> in his bid to wrest the 2024 nomination away from President Joe Biden, to appear in the second Twitter Spaces conversation featuring a 2024 White House contender <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-event-by-far-the-biggest-ever-held-on-twitter-spaces-1-million-raised-in-first-hour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after one late last month with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis</a>. Kennedy praised Musk, telling him that Twitter under his leadership has fought against &#8220;censorship&#8221; on the platform.
&#8220;I think if we don&#8217;t protect free speech at all costs, we don&#8217;t have a functioning democracy,&#8221; Kennedy said.
No stranger to being silenced on social media, Instagram <a href="https://apnews.com/article/rjf-jr-banned-instagram-vaccine-misinfo-d72913572f04ec9b23cec58881bc32d9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> Kennedy over his posts raising concerns about the safety of COVID vaccines more than two years ago. Just this past weekend, Instagram restored his account, with parent company Meta saying it allowed the return because Kennedy is an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/05/tech/meta-rfk-anti-vax-instagram-hnk-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">active presidential candidate.</a>
The turnaround is a late decision, however, as Kennedy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/robert-f-kennedy-jr-files-to-run-for-president-in-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed to run</a> for president two months ago. And he&#8217;s no fringe candidate, either. Polls consistently show he has <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/2024/national/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double-digit support</a>, right up to about 20%, in the contest for the Democratic Party&#8217;s nomination.
Fighting against censorship is a costly battle, even for the social media platforms themselves, as Musk attested during his conversation with Kennedy. Talking about losing the support of advertisers, Musk said Twitter has lost half its revenue &#8220;simply because we insist on free speech.&#8221;
After Musk completed a $44 billion takeover of Twitter last fall, he championed &#8220;The Twitter Files,&#8221; a project which has given the public an unprecedented look into the decision-making process behind content moderation. Among other changes made to Twitter, Musk has overseen the restoration of banished accounts, including the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/technology/trump-twitter-musk.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one belonging to former President Donald Trump</a>.
Both Musk and Kennedy seemed to agree that democracy cannot succeed when speech and the flow of information are bogged down by restraints.
&#8220;There’s never been a time in history when we look back and say that the people who are censoring free speech were the good guys,&#8221; Kennedy <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1665848160168689668" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;They&#8217;re always the bad guys. It&#8217;s always the first step toward totalitarianism.&#8221;
Kennedy, who touted himself as &#8220;pretty much a free-speech absolutist,&#8221; argued that &#8220;the remedy for bad speech is more speech.&#8221;
Kennedy praised Musk for his release of the &#8220;<a class="link " href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-house-dems-try-to-bully-twitter-files-journos-into-revealing-sources-fail-miserably" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-ylk="slk:Twitter Files;elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="14" data-v9y="1">Twitter Files</a>. &#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine any attorney for Twitter told you that was a good idea,&#8221; Kennedy said. &#8220;I was so surprised and delighted when you did that on your own.&#8221;
&#8220;I just want to tell you how much I admire you for that, Elon, and how grateful I am on behalf of my country,&#8221; Kennedy told the billionaire South Africa native. &#8220;You would come here from another country and be a key instrument for rescuing American democracy and freedom of speech.&#8221;
A new <a href="https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/news/nat-issues-rfkjr-support-0517/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll by Convention of States Action and The Trafalgar Group</a> found that dissatisfaction with Biden&#8217;s job performance, an din particular his economic policies, is boosting Kennedy&#8217;s challenge. Some two-thirds of respondents
&#8220;The Biden Administration is unable to find any semblance of a strategic and sound fiscal policy but continues unabated spending while governing only for the benefit of their corporate and special interest cronies,&#8221; said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States. &#8220;Like him or not, apparently many voters are seeing support for Kennedy as an expression of dissatisfaction with the Biden Administration.”
Kennedy is the 69-year-old son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while running for the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the nephew of both former President John F. Kennedy and former Sen. Ted Kennedy.
But despite his liberal bloodlines, Kennedy has shaken up the race with an eclectic mix of policy positions since announcing his bid in April. Known for his skepticism of Big Pharma, Kennedy has railed against the COVID vaccines, which he charges were rushed to market and have been shown to have dangerous side effects. That position could resonate with some conservatives as well as the Democrats Kennedy is courting.
Kennedy has spoken out against the Biden administration&#8217;s approach toward the war in Ukraine, advocating for a peace deal. He has also called for tighter control of the southern border and for barring <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/04/30/robert-f-kennedy-jr-smerconish-transgender-athletes-smr-intv-vpx.cnn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">biological males from competing in girls&#8217; sports</a>, all positions that would appear to run counter to the Democratic Party&#8217;s leadership.
“I am against people participating in women’s sports who are biologically male,” Kennedy told CNN in April. “I think women who have worked too hard to develop women’s sports over the past 30 years I watched it happen and I don’t think that’s fair.”
Kennedy who was educated at Harvard University and earned a law degree from the University of Virginia, is married to &#8220;Curb Your Enthusiasm&#8221; star Cheryl Hines.
Despite his impressive rise in the polls, his bid to earn the Democratic Party&#8217;s nomination is a long shot at best, as intra-party challengers to incumbent presidents have a poor track record. His uncle, Ted Kennedy, failed in his 1980 bid to take the nomination away from then-President Jimmy Carter.

Robert Kennedy Jr.

Surging 2024 Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Praises Elon Musk’s Free Speech Battle Against Leftist Censorship

Surging 2024 Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Praises Elon Musk's Free Speech Battle Against Leftist Censorship

2024 Election

Elon Musk

Free Speech

Politics

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Twitter

U.S.

A federal judge has ruled Friday that a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> law intended to shield children from sexually explicit performances is unconstitutional. 
U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker said a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-blocks-tennessee-law-protecting-children-from-viewing-sexually-explicit-performances" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law that blocked</a> children from being exposed to “adult cabaret” performances, including sexually explicit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drag-queen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drag shows</a>, was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.”
“There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law,” Parker <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/trump-appointed-federal-judge-rejects-tennessees-anti-drag-99811024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech.”
Parker, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, said that the law would also allow “discriminatory enforcement.”
“Whether some of us may like it or not, the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment as protecting speech that is indecent but not obscene,” Parker said. 
According to a <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0003&amp;ga=113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">summary</a> of the law, which was signed by Governor Bill Lee, it “creates an offense for a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.” 
The definition of adult cabaret performance in the law includes “male or female impersonators.” 
The law came before Parker after Friends of George’s, a <a href="https://www.friendsofgeorges.org/season/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">self-described </a>“LGBTQ theatre company” based in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/memphis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memphis</a> filed a suit challenging the law.
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“I am disappointed with the judge’s decision on Senate Bill 3, which ignored 60 years of Supreme Court precedent allowing regulation of obscene entertainment in the presence of minors. Sadly, this ruling is a victory for those who support exposing children to sexual entertainment,” <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnson/status/1665004030047789056/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), the author of the bill. 
Johnson said he hoped that Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti would appeal the decision. 
“Despite the Court’s perplexing reading of the law, I am confident — and have always been — that this legislation does nothing to suppress the First Amendment,” Johnson added, saying that he would continue working to “protect the children of Tennessee.” 
In the last year, footage has emerged from around the country, including in Texas, that has appeared to show children present at sexually explicit drag shows, prompting some lawmakers to introduce legislation. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed similar legislation last month that seeks to shield children from explicit performances.

Key Speakers At Conservative Political Action Conference

Tennessee Law Shielding Kids From Sexually Explicit Performances Ruled ‘Unconstitutional’

Courts

Drag Queens

Drag show

Memphis

Tennessee

A prestigious college at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oxford-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Oxford</a> announced Thursday that violating its new transgender harassment policy, including using the wrong pronouns, could lead to expulsion.
Regent’s Park College released a <a href="https://www.rpc.ox.ac.uk/trans-inclusion-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trans Inclusion Statement</a>, which outlines in detail what the college considers “transphobic harassment” and threatens offenders with severe penalties, including expulsion.
The statement declares, “Any unlawful discriminatory behaviour, including transphobic harassment or bullying of by individuals or groups, will be regarded extremely seriously and could be grounds for disciplinary action, which may include expulsion or dismissal.”
The college’s statement goes on to define “transphobia” broadly, including acts like “denying or disputing the validity and/or existence of a trans person’s identity,” “refusal to treat a person in accordance with their affirmed identity,” and “misgendering” by using “the wrong name or pronoun.”
The college further admits that “it is not possible to have a comprehensive definition of transphobia.” The college interprets the United Kingdom’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Equality Act of 2010</a> to forbid discrimination based on gender identity, even though the law uses the medical term “gender reassignment” rather than “gender identity” in its anti-discrimination language.
The Trans Inclusion Statement came out in the wake of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/30/trans-activists-disrupt-kathleen-stock-speech-at-oxford-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controversial talk</a> the college hosted given by “gender-critical feminist” <a href="https://twitter.com/Docstockk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathleen Stock</a>, a former professor at the University of Sussex. Stock’s talk was heavily protested and even interrupted by a trans activist who glued her hands to the floor of the stage.
Stock promoted her book “Material Girls,” stating that she wants “trans people protected from violence and discrimination,” but that it was “not fair on females” to share spaces like bathrooms and changing rooms with biological men. She called for “third spaces” as a compromise.
At the end of its statement, the college briefly mentions how the Equality Act protects religious belief and states that it respects the right of “those holding gender-critical beliefs” with the qualification that their speech “does not constitute harassment as not respecting the rights and freedoms of others.”
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Despite the college’s ode to free speech and religious liberty, the language banning “denying or disputing the validity and/or existence of a trans person’s identity” was similar to the charges protesters threw at Stock a few days earlier.
One sign read, “Our existence is not a debate,” and protest leader Amaid Haran Diman said, “[Stock] wants to be the polite voice of a trans-exclusionary movement, but I don’t believe in her good faith. I don’t think she wants to have a civil conversation. If you look at her behaviour online it is very hostile. I think it is hateful and intolerant.”
The new policy at the University of Oxford college comes in the midst of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/court-rules-against-free-speech-group-upholds-virginia-tech-bias-policy">legal challenges</a> to colleges’ bias and harassment policies in the United States, highlighting the conflict between such policies and free speech principles.

Woman with hand over mouth

Oxford College Can Now Expel Students For Using The Wrong Pronouns

Education

Gender Pronouns

Oxford University

Transgender

United Kingdom

World

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a free speech group lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of Virginia Tech’s bias policies.
In a 2-1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/virginia-tech-bias-policy-upheld-by-appeals-court/article_b2ae724f-e3ef-5681-8326-47a736ddc303.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upheld</a> Virginia Tech’s Bias Intervention and Response Team (BIRT) and Informational Activities Policy (IAP), ruling against <a href="https://speechfirst.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Speech First</a>, a civil rights organization dedicated to protecting college students’ free speech rights.
“Here, Speech First has failed to demonstrate that a single one of the district court’s numerous findings of fact is clearly erroneous,” wrote Senior Judge Diana Gribbon Motz for the majority. “Speech First offers only speculation in support of its argument that it has suffered an injury in fact.”
BIRT <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/06/02/court-speech-first-has-no-standing-challenge-bias-policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allows</a> individuals to report students for any “expression made against a person or group” that the university considers motivated by bias. Speech First argued that Virginia Tech, through BIRT, created an “elaborate bureaucratic regime that burdens the exercise of free speech,” according to the court opinion.
The <a href="https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/212061.p.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dissent</a>, written by Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson, focused on the “real-world consequences” of the court’s decision.  Wilkinson argued that the BIRT’s reporting system has a “chilling effect” on the First Amendment and that due to the policy, a “reasonable student” would “keep her head down, sit silently, and avoid the potential fallout” in class when controversial topics are discussed.
The court majority denied this claim, arguing that because the meetings initiated by the BIRT were voluntary, the reporting system could not be regarded as punishing free speech. Further, Motz wrote, “Just as universities may legitimately strive to promote intellectual curiosity, so too they may legitimately strive to promote civility and a sense of belonging among the student body. That is what Virginia Tech’s Bias Policy seeks to achieve.”
IAP is a regulation on who can hand out flyers and leaflets on campus, requiring approval from the Student Engagement and Campus Life Office. For a student’s leafleting activities to be approved, he or she must be sponsored by one of the university’s registered student organizations.
Speech First challenged the IAP, arguing the policy was akin to “prior restraint” policies struck down by courts in the past and a speaker-based restriction on speech in violation of the First Amendment. The majority disagreed, writing that the IAP is a “reasonable” regulation, motivated not by a desire to regulate speech but a system that “ensures fair and equitable access” to [Virginia Tech’s] finite resources.”
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The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) — who filed an <a href="https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/speech-first-inc-v-timothy-sands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amicus brief</a> supporting Speech First — <a href="https://www.thefire.org/colleges/virginia-polytechnic-institute-and-state-university?_page=1">gives</a> Virginia Tech a “yellow” free speech rating, meaning that the university has “at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.” Among these policies are Virginia Tech’s “Discriminatory Harassment,” “Bias-Reporting,” “Offenses Against People,” and “Usage and Event Approval” policies, among others.
The two judges ruling in favor of the university — Senior Judge Motz and Judge Albert Diaz — were appointed by Democrats (President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama, respectively), while the dissenting judge — Judge Wilkinson — was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan.

Political art, Concept idea of free speech freedom of expression and censored, surreal painting, portrait illustration , conceptual artwork illustration

Court Rules Against Free Speech Group, Upholds Virginia Tech Bias Policy

College

Virginia Tech

The second annual Viewpoint Diversity Score <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business</a> Index unveiled on Tuesday showed that prominent companies lack commitments to guarantee the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/first-amendment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">First Amendment</a> liberties of their customers and employees, thereby threatening the “fundamental freedoms of every American.”
The Viewpoint Diversity Score, an initiative of the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), evaluated 75 publicly traded companies with respect to their free speech and religious liberty commitments. Only two companies <a href="https://www.viewpointdiversityscore.org/business-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scored</a> more than 25% on the index out of the 100% available, while eight firms increased their ratings from the inaugural <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-corporations-really-hate-diversity-of-thought-new-viewpoint-diversity-score-reveals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">edition</a> released last year.
“Threats to freedom don’t just come from the government, but from major corporations like financial institutions and big tech companies that have concentrated power over essential services and communication channels,” ADF Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President for Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco said in a <a href="https://adfmedia.org/case/viewpoint-diversity-score" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Too often, these corporations de-bank or de-platform Americans, citing policies that give them unbounded discretion to censor people for their views. That needs to change. Companies need to take seriously the way their policies and practices can chill the exercise of speech and religion and deter individuals from participating in the democratic process.”
Online rental and travel marketplace AirBnB earned the lowest rating of any other company on the Viewpoint Diversity Score, receiving a dismal 2% overall score and a 0% score for the firm’s activities in both the marketplace and the public square. Entertainment conglomerate Disney meanwhile earned a 7% overall score, financial services platform PayPal earned a 5% score, and asset management company BlackRock likewise earned a 7% score.
Financial technology company FIS, however, clinched a 50% score because of commitments to uphold fundamental liberties in its workforce and the public square, for which the company earned 67% and 65% scores, respectively. M&amp;T Bank similarly earned an overall score of 25%.
ADF executives released the second edition of its scoring system immediately after the JPMorgan Chase annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. David Bahnsen, the founder and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, had filed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jpmorgan-chase-denies-they-debanked-religious-groups-head-of-impacted-nonprofit-responds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> calling for the financial services behemoth to publish an evaluation of how executives oversee risks related to discrimination against clients for their religious and political views.
Chase Bank, the firm’s consumer and commercial subsidiary, drew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jpmorgan-chase-repeatedly-de-banked-conservative-and-religious-groups-republican-state-officials-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism</a> in recent months for abruptly ending its relationship with the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a nonpartisan, faith-based nonprofit. The bank account belonging to the entity was nixed three weeks after starting a relationship with Chase, which asked the nonprofit to provide a list of their major donors and their criteria for deciding which candidates they would support.
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JPMorgan Chase accordingly saw its score on the Viewpoint Diversity Score <a href="https://www.viewpointdiversityscore.org/company/jpmorgan-chase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decrease</a> from 15% in the first edition to 9% in the second edition. The company, which lost points due to low respect for customer beliefs, also has workforce diversity training modules that teach divisive concepts such as “unconscious bias.”
Many conservatives contend that the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, also known as ESG, has needlessly prompted companies to advance social causes unrelated to core business functions as the philosophy grows in popularity among executives. Common objectives of firms that endorse the ESG movement include racial diversity quotas within company workforces and senior management, and fossil fuel divestment targets.
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/introducing-dw-kids">announced plans</a> for kids entertainment content.)

Wall Street

‘Viewpoint Diversity’ Index Shows Most Large Companies Threaten The ‘Fundamental Freedoms’ Of Every American

Index Shows Most Large Businesses Threaten The 'Fundamental Freedoms' Of Every American

Business

First Amendment

General

Portfolio manager David Bahnsen will introduce a resolution before the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shareholders</a> of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jp-morgan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JPMorgan Chase</a> next week regarding the company’s moves to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">de-bank</a> organizations for their conservative and religious <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">viewpoints</a>.
Chase Bank, the consumer and commercial subsidiary of the financial services behemoth, has garnered controversy in recent months for nixing its relationship with the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a nonprofit that advocates for religious liberty, and asking the organization to provide a list of its donors. One credit card processor owned by Chase likewise terminated an account belonging to Family Council, a conservative organization that works to strengthen traditional family values, while another firm controlled by Chase refused to serve the political action committee Defense of Liberty.
The shareholder <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/vds_storage/document/JPMorgan%20Chase%20Proposal%20-%20Bahnsen%20-%20Revised%2012-26-22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> submitted by Bahnsen, the founder and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, contends that the actions from Chase violate the liberties enumerated in the United States Constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The resolution, which will be presented at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 16, would demand that JPMorgan Chase publish an evaluation of how the firm oversees risks related to discrimination against clients for their religious and political views.
“When companies engage in this kind of discrimination, they hinder the ability of individuals, groups, and businesses to access and equally participate in the marketplace and instead skew it to their own ends,” the resolution asserts. “Moreover, they risk giving fringe activists and governments a foothold to demand that private financial institutions deny service under the sweeping, unfettered discretion that such policies provide.”
JPMorgan Chase filed a <a href="https://adfmedia.org/press-release/jpmorgan-chase-loses-sec-challenge-must-allow-shareholders-consider-viewpoint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">motion</a> with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year to exclude the resolution from the shareholder ballot, a move which authorities from the agency rejected.
Bahnsen remarked in an interview with The Daily Wire that he does not expect the resolution to pass next week but said the intended impact “has already been achieved” because of the significant attention drawn by the company’s unsuccessful effort to nix the resolution.
“We have now had three extensive meetings directly with senior leaders at JPMorgan Chase and have been able to engage them in serious conversation about these matters,” Bahnsen commented. “I do not believe this would have ever gotten any internal attention apart from this effort, nor do I think senior leadership understood or appreciated that there were even people like us out there before this.”
Bahnsen, himself a conservative Christian and the son of influential late <a href="https://apologiastudios.com/lectures/bahnsen-u-course/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apologist</a> Greg Bahnsen, said he does not believe actions against religious groups are emerging from senior executives, attributing the phenomenon to the “biases and prejudices” of “highly empowered” local and regional middle managers. “I am convinced these discriminatory things are happening, and that senior management is not behind it at all,” he continued. “I believe they have a breakdown at a more local and regional level causing this, and they internally are going to have to rectify it.”
Many accuse public and private actors of leveraging the financial system to oppose certain political perspectives, especially those held by conservatives. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trudeau-announces-unprecedented-action-freezing-bank-accounts-of-freedom-convoy-protesters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invoked</a> emergency powers last year to freeze the personal and corporate bank accounts of individuals involved with demonstrations against vaccine mandates, while PayPal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-paypal-policy-lets-company-pull-2500-from-users-accounts-if-they-promote-misinformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that the firm would withdraw penalties from accounts deemed to be promoting racism or misinformation, a policy that the company later claimed was published by mistake.
The shareholder resolution comes as several Republican state attorneys general <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jpmorgan-chase-repeatedly-de-banked-conservative-and-religious-groups-republican-state-officials-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> JPMorgan Chase to participate in the survey component of the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, an initiative from the Alliance Defending Freedom that evaluates prominent firms for their commitments to religious liberty and freedom of speech. JPMorgan Chase <a href="https://www.viewpointdiversityscore.org/company/jpmorgan-chase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scored</a> 15% out of 100% due to “unclear or imprecise policies” which allow the bank to “deny service for arbitrary or politically biased reasons.”

JPMorgan Chase

Portfolio Manager Will Confront JPMorgan Chase Shareholders On Moves To De-Bank Conservative And Religious Groups

Portfolio Manager Will Confront JPMorgan Chase On Moves To De-Bank Religious Groups

Banks

JP Morgan

Religion

Religious Freedom

Stock Market

Nineteen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> state attorneys general asserted on Tuesday that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jp-morgan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JPMorgan Chase</a> “de-banked” organizations for their conservative and religious tendencies, calling on the nation’s largest <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial</a> institution to respect the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">viewpoints</a> of their customers.
The officials stated in a letter to the firm provided to The Daily Wire that the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a “nonpartisan, faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the right of everyone in America to live one’s faith freely,” had its Chase account nixed three weeks into starting a relationship with the company and was asked to provide a list of their donors to the firm. A credit card processor owned by Chase likewise terminated the account for Family Council, a conservative organization working to strengthen traditional family values, while a firm called WePay, which is also owned by Chase, refused to serve Defense of Liberty, a Missouri-based political action committee.
JPMorgan Chase nevertheless contends that the firm remains devoted to diversity and inclusion because of its high scores on the Corporate Equality Index, an initiative from the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent LGBTQ activism and political lobbying organization.
“To be clear, banks generally have the right to conduct their business however and with whomever they choose,” the attorneys general said in the letter. “But a bank does not have the right to mislead its customers. Chase cannot call itself ‘inclusive,’ publicize that it ‘opposes discrimination in any form,’ promise to ‘prevent discrimination’ against customers, and then refuse to commit to the most basic equality of treatment and fair dealing.”
The officials asked JPMorgan Chase to participate in the survey component of the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, an initiative from the Alliance Defending Freedom that evaluates prominent firms for their commitments to religious liberty and freedom of speech. JPMorgan Chase <a href="https://www.viewpointdiversityscore.org/company/jpmorgan-chase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scored</a> 15% out of 100% due to “unclear or imprecise policies” which allow the bank to “deny service for arbitrary or politically biased reasons,” according to the letter.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, to whom the letter was addressed, has previously professed support for the liberties guaranteed by the United States and contended that free expression is a core component of free markets. “We live in the greatest country in the world predicated on foundational beliefs in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise, the sanctity of the individual, and the promise of equality and opportunity for all,” he said in <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Dimon%20Testimony%209-22-22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testimony</a> before the Senate Banking Committee last year.
The state attorneys general urged Dimon and his firm to act consistently with fundamental American values. “No individual or organization should have to worry that religious or political beliefs will limit access to financial services or undermine financial stability,” the letter continued. “Surely Chase’s promised inclusivity should extend to these fundamental characteristics of American identity. Accordingly, we call on Chase to stop its religious and politically biased discrimination and start living up to its commitment to an inclusive society where everyone feels welcomed, equal, and included.”
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The financial system has been leveraged by public and private actors to oppose certain political perspectives, including those often held by conservatives. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trudeau-announces-unprecedented-action-freezing-bank-accounts-of-freedom-convoy-protesters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invoked</a> emergency powers last year to freeze the personal and corporate bank accounts of people involved with demonstrations against vaccine mandates, while PayPal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-paypal-policy-lets-company-pull-2500-from-users-accounts-if-they-promote-misinformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that the firm would withdraw funds from accounts deemed to be promoting racism or misinformation, a policy that the company later claimed was published by mistake.

JPMorgan Chase Repeatedly ‘De-Banked’ Conservative And Religious Groups, Republican State Officials Say

JPMorgan Chase Repeatedly ‘De-Banked’ Conservative And Religious Groups, State Attorneys General Say

Jamie Dimon

Republican

Dozens of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/harvard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harvard University</a> professors launched an effort to support freedom of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expression</a> at the elite school as dissenting views become increasingly ostracized in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">academia</a>.
More than 90 professors launched the Council of Academic Freedom at Harvard earlier this month to “promote free inquiry, intellectual diversity, and civil discourse on campus,” according to a recent <a href="https://sites.harvard.edu/cafh/2023/04/20/press-release-a-voice-for-academic-freedom-at-harvard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>.
“We have plenty on the left and in the center, and even some on the right. Some of us are religious, some are not. We come from all sorts of academic disciplines,” the professors said in the press release. “We will help ensure that campus leaders respect Harvard’s commitments to academic freedom. We will protest if those freedoms are violated. We will also provide solidarity with Harvard scholars who are threatened with penalty because of their speech.”
Members of the Council of Academic Freedom <a href="https://sites.harvard.edu/cafh/people/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">include</a> self-described civil libertarian law professor Alan Dershowitz and conservative-leaning government professor Harvey Mansfield. Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers, who led the Treasury Department under the Clinton administration, and economic policy professor Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration, are also part of the initiative.
Steven Pinker, a psychology professor and co-president of the Council of Academic Freedom, wrote an <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/04/12/opinion/harvard-council-academic-freedom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion piece</a> in The Boston Globe with psychobiology professor Bertha Madras contending that “repression of academic freedom is systemic and must be actively resisted.”
“The reason that a truth-seeking institution must sanctify free expression is straightforward. No one is infallible or omniscient. Mortal humans begin in ignorance of everything and are saddled with cognitive biases that make the search for knowledge arduous,” the academics wrote. “The only way that our species has managed to learn and progress is by a process of conjecture and refutation: Some people venture ideas, others probe whether they are sound, and in the long run the better ideas prevail.”
Free expression at American universities has been threatened in recent years as faculties become increasingly Left-of-center, producing environments where conservatives report pressure to self-censor and experience overt instances of discrimination. Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was verbally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-law-sides-with-howling-mob-of-spoiled-brats-in-shameful-treatment-of-federal-judge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accosted</a> by protesters and a diversity administrator at Stanford University as he attempted to deliver a speech to law students, while a collegiate swim champion was more recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swim-champ-riley-gaines-attacked-by-radical-trans-mob-forced-to-barricade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assaulted</a> by student activists at San Francisco State University after she delivered a speech about radical gender theory and women’s sports.
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Harvard has not been immune to the censorship of voices that threaten orthodoxy at the institution: administrators removed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) two years ago from her role on the senior advisory board of the Harvard Institute of Politics for making <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-rep-elise-stefanik-responds-after-harvard-cuts-her-from-politics-advisory-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> about voter fraud deemed to be incorrect. Students likewise circulated a petition that sought to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-students-petition-for-trump-allied-graduates-to-lose-degrees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revoke</a> the Harvard degrees earned by lawmakers such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) after the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol Building, asserting that the officials had “worked hard to spread the disinformation and mistrust” which led to the incident.

Harvard

Nearly 100 Harvard Professors Take A Stand For Free Speech At The Elite School

Top Harvard Professors Stand Up For Free Speech At Elite School

Academia

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cornell-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cornell University</a> selected <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free expression</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">academic freedom</a> as central themes for the upcoming school year after multiple related controversies at other postsecondary institutions.
Free expression at elite schools has been increasingly threatened in recent years as faculties become increasingly Left-of-center, producing environments in which conservative academics and students report pressure to self-censor or even overt instances of censorship. In the past several weeks, Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was verbally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-law-sides-with-howling-mob-of-spoiled-brats-in-shameful-treatment-of-federal-judge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accosted</a> by student protesters and a diversity administrator at Stanford University, while collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swim-champ-riley-gaines-attacked-by-radical-trans-mob-forced-to-barricade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attacked</a> by a mob of San Francisco State University students who opposed her stance on prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports.
Cornell <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/04/2023-24-academic-year-feature-free-expression-theme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in the wake of both incidents that students will be encouraged to engage in “civil discourse” about the importance of free expression through means such as community book readings, lectures and speaker events, and artistic exhibitions through the fall of 2023 and the spring of 2024.
“It is critical to our mission as a university to think deeply about freedom of expression and the challenges that result from assaults on it, which today come from both ends of the political spectrum,” Cornell University President Martha Pollack said in a statement. “Learning from difference, learning to engage with difference and learning to communicate across difference are key parts of a Cornell education. Free expression and academic freedom are the bedrock not just of the university, but of democracy.”
Cornell included “free and open inquiry and expression,” even when some consider certain ideas “wrong or offensive,” in a list of <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/about/values.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">core values</a> released in 2019. The school’s board of trustees approved a similar <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/04/2023-24-academic-year-feature-free-expression-theme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policy statement</a> on free expression two years later.
Multiple incidents over the past several years, however, appear to have contradicted the school’s professed commitment to free expression. Members of the student government attempted to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cornell-student-government-fails-to-disarm-police-so-they-expel-opposition-members-and-vote-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pass</a> a resolution three years ago that would disarm the school’s police, then voted to remove members opposed to the resolution and narrowly enacted the policy. Students and alumni likewise organized to depose William Jacobson, a veteran professor at Cornell Law School, after he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cornell-mob-comes-for-law-professor-who-criticized-black-lives-matter-movement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that the Black Lives Matter movement was based on a hoax and criticized the organization’s tactics.
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The more recent incidents at Stanford and San Francisco State provoked mixed reactions from administrators at each school. The former institution issued multiple <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-president-vows-to-protect-free-speech-after-federal-judge-shouted-down-by-leftist-students-and-dei-czar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apologies</a> and vowed to more carefully protect free expression after Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho and Eleventh Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch announced that they would no longer hire any clerks who chose to attend Stanford Law School in reaction to the response to Duncan. The latter institution, on the other hand, issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/did-this-just-say-peaceful-riley-gaines-unloads-on-san-francisco-states-response-to-assault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> claiming that demonstrators “peacefully” expressed their views, even though police were forced to barricade Gaines in a room for several hours as students debated on whether she should be allowed to freely leave campus.
“This incident, and other similar disruptions at schools nationwide, make clear that maintaining strong free expression policies is not enough, independently, to ensure expressive freedoms,” read a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mob-rule-free-speech-group-blasts-sfsu-after-riley-gaines-faced-physical-harassment-from-left-wing-mob" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression to San Francisco State administrators. “Universities must educate their students on their First Amendment rights and those of other students, faculty, and members of the campus community. To protect free speech and ensure their educational communities’ safety, universities must clarify that the use of force or mob rule to silence speech is not an exercise in free speech.”

Cornell University campus

Elite University Promotes Free Speech Following Stanford And SFSU Controversies

Elite University Promotes Free Speech Following Controversies At Other Schools

Cornell University

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stanford" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stanford</a> University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne vowed on Monday to protect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free speech</a> and open expression after Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was verbally accosted by student protesters and a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diversity</a> administrator.
Duncan, a Trump appointee, was invited last month to deliver <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-law-sides-with-howling-mob-of-spoiled-brats-in-shameful-treatment-of-federal-judge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarks</a> at an event hosted by the school’s Federalist Society chapter but was shouted down by leftist protesters who called the federal judge a “liar” and “scumbag.” When he called for a school administrator to defuse the incident, Stanford Law School Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach added to the students’ complaints by lecturing Duncan and claiming he was fomenting “division.”
Tessier-Lavigne, who previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-president-law-school-dean-apologize-to-judge-after-verbal-assault-on-campus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offered</a> an apology to Duncan and asserted that Steinbach’s monologue did not reflect school policy on safeguarding free expression, said in a <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/report/2023/04/03/welcome-spring-quarter-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Stanford employees and students that administrators would introduce new initiatives to “strengthen the norms and values that support a robust learning community at Stanford.”
“Universities are called on to be places of vigorous and thoughtful inquiry, not only of ideas palatable to the mainstream, but of a broad array of ideas, including challenges to mainstream views. Our role is to provide knowledge, nuance, and an approach based in truth-seeking and reasoned discussion,” Tessier-Lavigne wrote. “But we will only be able to achieve that goal, I believe, if we approach new ideas and perspectives with curiosity, and with respect for the dignity of each member of our community. This includes assuming good intent in the people one disagrees with and giving them grace.”
The administrator told students and staff members that the new free expression initiatives would apply to “classrooms, residences, and offices” and will be shared with future applicants who consider Stanford. “As we enter the final quarter of this academic year, let us recommit ourselves to rising above the lowest-common-denominator discourse,” he continued. “Let us aspire to open, curious, and reasoned engagement with one another.”
The additional vow to protect free speech came days after Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho and Eleventh Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch announced that they would no longer <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/stanford-law-added-to-clerk-hire-boycott-by-us-judges-ho-branch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hire</a> any clerks who chose to attend Stanford Law School in reaction to the response to Duncan. Both judges, also Trump appointees, had previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-says-he-wont-hire-clerks-from-yale-law-urges-other-judges-to-join" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that they would no longer hire from Yale Law School over similar concerns.
“My concern is how law students are treating everyone else they disagree with. I’m concerned about what this is doing to the legal profession and to our country,” Ho said in a <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/read-judge-james-hos-remarks-announcing-a-hiring-boycott-from-stanford-law-school/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a> for the Texas Review of Law and Politics. “Students learn all the wrong lessons. They practice all the wrong tactics. And then they graduate and bring these tactics to workplaces across the country. What happens on campus doesn’t stay on campus. And it’s tearing our country apart.”
Duncan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-is-not-free-speech-to-silence-others-judge-kyle-duncan-speaks-out-about-mob-crashing-his-stanford-law-school-talk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted</a> to the Stanford debacle in a speech at the University of Notre Dame. He contended that the student hecklers were engaged in activity that “had nothing to do with our proud American tradition of free speech” but was “rather a parody of it.”
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“It had everything to do with intimidation. And to be clear, not intimidating me,” he continued. “I’m not intimidated by this. I’m a life-tenured judge. I’m going to go back to my court and keep writing opinions. No, the target of the intimidation was the protesters’ fellow students.”

Stanford University

Stanford President Vows To Protect Free Speech After Federal Judge Shouted Down By Leftist Students And DEI Czar

Stanford President Vows To Protect Free Speech After Federal Judge Shouted Down By Leftist Students

California

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Palo Alto

Wayne State University professor Steven Shaviro <a href="https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/wayne-state-professor-suspended-after-advocating-for-killing-right-wing-speakers-on-campuses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been suspended</a> over a now-deleted Facebook post in which he suggested it was &#8220;more admirable&#8221; to kill conservative speakers than to engage with them.
In the post, Shaviro argued that protests and attempts to disrupt or shout down conservative speakers would only play into their hands and ultimately make the protesters look like the villains. Given that, he said that shouting down &#8220;bigots&#8221; would only strengthen them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hi <a href="https://twitter.com/waynestate?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@waynestate</a> is this one of your professors publicly calling for murder ON CAMPUS of any speaker who has an opinion he disagrees with? “I think it is far more admirable to kill” <a href="https://t.co/5TjDACUuGl">pic.twitter.com/5TjDACUuGl</a>
&mdash; TheFamousArtistBirdyRose (@TheFamousArtBR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheFamousArtBR/status/1639743161764311042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the post, Shaviro wrote:
<blockquote>So here is what I think about free speech on campus. Although I do not advocate violating federal and state criminal codes, I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down.
When right-wing groups invite such speakers to campus, it is precisely because they want to provoke an incident that discredits the left, and gives more publicity and validation to these reprehensible views than they could otherwise attain. The protesters get blamed instead of the bigoted speaker; the university administration finds a perfect excuse to side publicly with the racists or phobes; the national and international press has a field day saying that bigots are the ones being oppressed, rather than the people those bigots actually hate being the victims of oppression.
In short, every time protestors shout down a racist or transphobic speaker, they are indulging their own moral sense of validity at the expense of actually strengthening the very bigots against whom they are protesting.
The exemplary historical figure in this regard is Sholem Schwarzbard, who assassinated the anti-Semitic butcher Symon Petliura, rather than trying to shout him down. Remember that Schwarzbard was acquitted by a jury, which found his action justified.</blockquote>
Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson sent out a <a href="https://www.thesouthend.wayne.edu/article_8fa6a4d6-ccc4-11ed-9312-0337d9f0f401.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">campus-wide email</a> on Monday confirming that Shaviro had been suspended with pay and his Facebook post had been forwarded to law enforcement for further investigation.
&#8220;We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech, but we feel this post far exceeds the bounds of reasonable or protected speech,&#8221; Wilson explained.
Ph.D. candidate Shelby Cadwell, who has worked with Shaviro for several years, complained that the university was actually perpetuating the problem by suspending the professor. She went on to suggest that objections to his post amounted to anti-Semitic attacks directed at him.
&#8220;His social media post … was drawing attention to the very problem that Wayne State is ironically perpetuating by suspending him. The problem is that fascists use the ‘free speech’ values of universities to provoke and incite protest, sometimes even violence, and then automatically find themselves on the right side of the issue,&#8221; Cadwell argued. &#8220;The university administration&#8217;s kneejerk response to this targeted campaign against an elderly, Jewish, and utterly harmless human being is the truly morally reprehensible act.&#8221;
Shaviro&#8217;s post and suspension landed amid the still-unfolding situation involving appeals court Judge <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/stanford-law-school-dean-doubles-down-on-free-speech-diversity-dean-placed-on-leave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kyle Duncan</a> — whose Federalist Society-sponsored event at Stanford University Law School was interrupted by students and diversity Dean Tirien Steinbach — and the radical Left&#8217;s push to quash free speech on campus.

Detroit Cityscapes and City Views

College Prof Suspended For Saying It’s More ‘Admirable’ To Kill Conservative Speakers Than To Protest Them

College Prof Suspended For Saying It's More 'Admirable' To Kill Conservative Speakers Than To Protest Them

Jane Fonda

Protests

Stanford

For the sixth time in a row, Finland has ranked <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/20/finland-declared-happiest-country-for-sixth-time-in-a-row/">happiest country</a> in the world. Ten lucky visitors can even apply to receive a promotional “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/21/finland-free-masterclass-of-happiness.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">masterclass</a>” in happiness from the national tourism department—the theory being that there is something innately happy, and exportable, about Finnish values and lifestyle. But what about the country’s stifling free speech record? Post on Twitter and risk a prison sentence under the country’s “hate speech” law. Can true happiness prevail amidst that kind of censorship?
Crimes of “hate speech” are very much a reality in the so-called happiest land on earth. Longstanding Finnish Member of Parliament, and former Minister of the Interior, <a href="https://adfinternational.org/free-speech-on-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paivi Räsänen</a> can attest to it. One year ago, Räsänen was unanimously <a href="https://adfinternational.org/free-speech-victory-finnish-mp-wins-trial-over-bible-tweet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquitted</a> by the Helsinki district court for her “crime” — posting Bible verses to Twitter in 2019 with regard to a debate on marriage and sexuality. Her church was hosting a Pride parade. In a tweet, Räsänen raised the question as to whether this conformed with Scripture. Four years later, she is still facing the crushing force of the Finnish State’s prosecutorial wrath over her tweet.
After her March 2022 acquittal, the prosecution <a href="https://adfinternational.org/prosecutor-files-appeal-against-finnish-mps-major-free-speech-victory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a>, revealing the absurd ends that the State is willing to go to silence and sanction speech deemed disagreeable. Strikingly, the Finnish legal system allows a “not guilty” verdict to be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court. Räsänen — dedicated civil servant, medical doctor, and grandmother — will be dragged back into court this August for round two of her <a href="https://adfinternational.org/inside-a-modern-day-heresy-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">modern-day inquisition</a>.
The toll on Räsänen has been immense. In her words: “when we have the elections, I am on the list of those who are suspected of crime. So it has been quite hard. I think that the process itself has been some type of punishment even though I got the acquittal from the Court”. Finnish Parliamentary elections are April 2nd.
An acting Parliamentarian of nearly twenty years, Räsänen has had to juggle her political duties alongside the onerous task of defending her basic human right to free speech. She expressed no hate, no venom, and no violence of any sort. And yet her peaceful expression carried a potential threat of two years imprisonment. This is the state of fundamental freedoms in Finland today.
“I have very long days in my parliamentary work and working with this case also. I am sorry that it has taken my time as a mother and grandmother. What has been most difficult has been those lies about my statements and about my views. What I am most worried about is the atmosphere of censorship, especially for young people,” Räsänen adds. In today’s world, she notes, “young people have to be silent about their faith not to hinder their careers or social acceptance.” She is persevering in the pursuit of justice not just for herself, but for all who find themselves at risk of being silenced.
The true absurdity of what has befallen Räsänen is that it is not just her, but Christianity in and of itself that has been put on trial. She was subjected to thirteen hours of police interrogations about her beliefs, much of which centered on her understanding of the Bible. Investigations focused on a church pamphlet that she wrote almost 20 years ago, and a radio interview she gave in 2019. Räsänen describes the efforts of the Prosecutor in Court: “she accused me that I believe in such a ridiculous book as [the] Bible”. Make no mistake about it — Räsänen’s faith itself is on trial, and freedom of religion in Finland hangs in the balance.
Aware of the enormous implications for fundamental freedoms, Räsänen has expressed that she is willing to defend her human rights all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. She has dedicated her life to the people of Finland, and is seizing this moment to defend the right of every person to speak in accordance with their convictions.
When highly visible elected officials like Räsänen are censored, a chilling effect on the rest of society is inevitable. “I am worried that because this continues and goes on for so long, it is some kind of warning to other people as to what can happen if they use their freedom of speech,” Räsänen notes. Indefatigable, she sees her mission as a calling—“it has been an honor for me to defend freedom of speech and freedom of faith.” And this mission is resonating across the world. Her case garnered international outcry, with Räsänen receiving thousands of messages of support, including an open letter from <a href="https://adfinternational.org/us-senators/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Senators</a> likening the Finnish law to a “secular blasphemy law.”
Finland is far from alone in experiencing a wave of repressive censorship. Reminiscent of Räsänen, Mexican Congressman <a href="https://adfinternational.org/petition-congressman-gabriel-quadri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gabriel Quadri</a> has been convicted as a “gender based political violator” for his tweets questioning whether biological men should occupy spaces reserved for women in Mexico’s Congress. Having exhausted all domestic recourse, he is appealing to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.
In Nigeria, Sufi Muslim <a href="https://adfinternational.org/nigeria-blasphemy-laws/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahaya Sharif-Aminu</a> was sentenced to death for lyrics sent through messaging platform WhatsApp. He is appealing for his life, and the overturning of Nigeria’s draconian blasphemy laws, at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Although the consequences may vary by country, it is evident that a culture of silencing is sweeping the globe.
Nobody should be punished for peacefully expressing their beliefs. Räsänen succinctly captures the matter at hand: “the meaning of Bible verses should not be judged in a court room”. It is not for the state to interpret theology, and even less so, for it to leverage the force of criminal law to silence speech. As she asserts: “now is the time to fight for these freedoms.” All enthused by the Finnish happiness trend beware. We must guard against the exportation of the insidious trend to censor speech and criminalize expressions of faith.
Elyssa Koren is an international human rights lawyer and director of legal communications for <a href="https://www.adfinternational.org/">ADF International</a>, which is supporting Räsänen’s defense. Follow her on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/elyssa_koren?lang=en">@Elyssa_Koren</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Helsinki, Finland city centre

‘Secular Blasphemy’: Her Tweet Was Considered A Crime In ‘The Happiest Country In The World’

'Secular Blasphemy': Her Tweet Was Considered A Crime In 'The Happiest Country In The World'

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