Also on today’s menu:
Pushing The Boundaries Of Free Speech
‘Permanent Authority To Ban Widely Used Speech’
Ukraine has started using long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), secretly provided at President Joe Biden Jr.’s direction before Congress approved the new aid package this week. The Biden administration had warned Russia that, if it used long-range ballistic missiles in Ukraine, Washington would provide the same capability to the Ukrainians. Russia used them anyway.
The weapons arrived in Ukraine this month, and Ukraine has begun using them to strike Russian targets in occupied Crimea. US officials said they hit a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area in recent days.
Ukraine had previously received a mid-range version of the missile, but US officials had been reluctant to send long-range missiles for fear of escalating the conflict, according to NBC. Vedant Patel of the US State Department said the United States did not announce providing the more powerful missiles “at the onset in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine, at their request.”
Discussion: One has to wonder whether Congress’ passage of the new aid package was related to the fact that Biden had already sent long-range ATACMS to Ukraine. Perhaps the security briefings that House Speaker Mike Johnson referred to in announcing his change of mind on Ukraine aid had included warnings that Biden’s escalation of the US proxy war against Russia meant that we now have no choice but to continue supporting Ukraine.
Pushing The Boundaries Of Free Speech
Ever since police arrested more than 100 people who were protesting Israel’s war in Gaza at New York City’s Columbia University last week, campus protests have spread across the country, with 108 arrests at Emerson College in Boston. The University of Southern California in Los Angeles had 93 arrests on trespassing charges. Protesters and police clashed at the University of Texas in Austin, with 34 arrested.
Activists have been calling for universities to “divest from genocide” by ending support for Israel and to stop investing in companies that manufacture weapons which could be used in Israel’s war in Gaza. Several Jewish students have expressed concerns about a threatening campus environment, but demonstrators say that incidents of harassment have been rare.
FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) is a strong proponent of free speech, and reiterated that “Peaceful protest must not be met with violence simply because of the viewpoints expressed.” Referring to the campus arrests, the foundation writes, “Violence thus far appears to have been isolated, but things can change at any moment, and it must be made clear that any violence is unacceptable. Institutions must provide meaningful security and take prompt action to separate groups when tensions flare. For everyone’s safety, and to secure expressive rights for all, no one on campus should have any sense whatsoever that violence will be tolerated or excused.”
Discussion: The Free Speech Movement established the right of students to conduct political activity on campus at Berkeley in 1964. That did not apply to off-campus activity, and during the Vietnam protests, Dartmouth English Professor Jeffrey Hart warned students that he would fail anyone leaving campus to join in protests. Dartmouth administrators stepped in to prevent Hart from doing so, and a contingent of students went to Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee MA, blocking one of the entrances. It was a peaceful protest and, because another entrance was left open, the students could not be charged with obstruction. There were arrests, but the students were ultimately freed with no charges against them. Some of today’s arrests are due to real threats, but it is unlikely that simple trespassing charges will lead to convictions.
‘Permanent Authority To Ban Widely Used Speech’
FIRE came out against the TikTok ban that was part of the aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The law that Biden signed “effectively grants the president permanent authority to ban widely used speech platforms with only weak connections to foreign entities,” the organization wrote. “This is a dangerous power for the president to hold over websites and apps that Americans use to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
Congress passed the bill requiring the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok so the Chinese Community Party will not be able continue using TikTok to spread propaganda and spy on users. Young Americans are using the app as a news source, giving China the ability to shape their opinions and undermine democracy. The app is banned only if ByteDance does not sell the platform within a specified timeframe.
“While FIRE is not in a position to evaluate the potential privacy and cybersecurity concerns presented by TikTok or other foreign-owned platforms, banning TikTok or other platforms used for expressive activity must be a last resort,” the organization wrote of the original legislation, HR 7521, which is nearly the same as the bill that passed. “Tens of millions of Americans use TikTok to share and consume information, news, ideas, political advocacy, and creative content, so all options for a divestiture must be exhausted before the government takes the unprecedented step of banning the platform.”
Discussion: The fears about TikTok are real. The Chinese Communist Party requires all companies in China to provide access to customer usage and other information, and it has been spreading propaganda through the app. That access to young minds must be blocked. In addition to TikTok, however, the bill applies to “a social media company that is controlled by a foreign adversary and has been determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security.” Biden already tried to establish what has been referred to as a “ministry of truth” to control what people are allowed to see — a dangerous proposal that quickly was withdrawn. What constitutes a “significant threat to national security” is undefined, which worries those at FIRE and perhaps should be of concern to everyone. As applied to TikTok, the law makes perfect sense, but it is dangerous to leave the door open to a single person’s assessment of what poses a serious threat.