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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

@thefireorg.bsky.social
6.8K followers 4 following 298 posts

We defend and promote free speech for all Americans in our courtrooms, on our campuses, and in our culture.

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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Brotherhood and sisterhood are forced to take a backseat to bureaucracy and suppression in Greek Life at @GallaudetU. Their new Greek Reform Guidelines impose sweeping rules that ban words like “pledge,” control student attire at events, and restrict who can become members.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
A federal court has vindicated the rights of a @USD professor who was set to be fired for social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s murder. This decision confirms what FIRE has long said—the First Amendment protects faculty’s personal speech on matters of public concern.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Texas’s Angelo State University reportedly has an unwritten policy that bans faculty from discussing “transgender topics,” using students’ preferred names, or displaying LGBTQ flags. As a public university, ASU must allow faculty to teach students as they see fit.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
The University of Missouri doubles down on cancelling a student event for using “Black” in the name, claiming students might think it was racially exclusive. Yet Mizzou has no issue with its own Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center or Black Studies courses. Pot, meet kettle.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Google should not have waited to acknowledge it was pressured by the Biden administration to block content on its platforms. Google condemns jawboning now, but it failed to stand up for the rights of its users when it mattered.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
BREAKING: A University of South Dakota professor filed a federal lawsuit today after the university moved to fire him over a Facebook post about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, following pressure from top state officials. FIRE supports Professor Hook’s efforts to defend his First Amendment rights.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s defenders say he didn’t pressure ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel. The complete timeline of events proves a different story. ✍🏻: Tyler Tone www.thefire.org/news/carrs-t...
thefire.org
Carr’s threats to ABC are jawboning any way you slice it
ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel hours after FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested they could face consequences for remarks Kimmel made in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
FIRE’s Bob Corn-Revere for @PostOpinions: FCC Chair Brendan Carr nakedly abused government power to pressure ABC into removing Jimmy Kimmel from the air for his speech. In America, the government doesn’t get to play network executive and determine who and what you watch.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
The firing of Clemson University faculty members for posts about the murder of Charlie Kirk is the start of a troubling national trend. FIRE reminds Clemson and all public universities that protected speech remains protected, even in tragedy.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
On Constitution Day, we honor the principles that make America strong and remember that its survival depends on us. Introducing Soapbox: FIRE’s bold new conference to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with high-impact keynotes, timely panels, and unforgettable entertainment.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
WEBINAR: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says hate speech isn’t free speech—but the Supreme Court has declared otherwise. Join FIRE as we unpack Bondi’s remarks, explain what the law actually says, and respond to the latest free speech news from the past week.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
President Trump suggested today that media outlets are engaging in “hate speech” by being “unfair” to him and “maybe” should be prosecuted. Trump’s statement demonstrates the inherent danger of “hate speech” laws: Those in power will always weaponize them to silence dissent.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment. Nevertheless, the attorney general says "there's free speech, and then there's hate speech," and the government will "target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
After Charlie Kirk’s murder, the cancel culture machine has kicked into gear, with mob mentality driving firings, investigations, and political pressure. FIRE's Adam Goldstein looks at how tragedy affects our culture of free speech. ⬇️ www.thefire.org/news/we-are-...
thefire.org
We are in the cancel culture part of the tragedy cycle
Cancel culture ends when we decide that people can be horrifically wrong and still entitled to the grace that enables us all to grow from our worst moments.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Student acceptance of violence to silence speakers is at a record high. In 2020, 1 in 5 students said violence was acceptable to stop a speaker. In 2025, that number is 1 in 3. That’s a 79% increase in just five years. And it’s chilling.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
“Free speech is what we do instead of violence. Civilization started the day man first cast a word instead of a stone.” We must not lose sight of this civilization-defining distinction. 🎙️: @nicoperrino.bsky.social 📺: @cnn.com
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
BREAKING: Charlie Kirk was shot during an event at Utah Valley University today. Details of the incident are still unfolding. Political violence is never an acceptable response to speech. Free speech allows us to settle our differences peacefully and is essential to a free and democratic society.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Yesterday, after a video of a student complaining about discussions of gender identity in a Texas A&M “Literature for Children” class went viral, Governor Greg Abbott demanded on X that Texas A&M President Mark Welsh fire Professor Melissa McCoul for the content of her course.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Who’s winning and who’s failing at campus free speech? Join FIRE for a special webinar on the 2026 College Free Speech Rankings—and what it means for American colleges and universities. Register today and bring your questions to the live Q&A! 🔥
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
BREAKING: FIRE’s 2026 College Free Speech Rankings reveal America’s colleges are failing. The nation’s report card on campus speech shows over half of colleges received an “F” rating. Intolerance in students has skyrocketed in the Trump 2.0 era.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
The Florida State Board of Education is pushing school districts to remove library books under a state law restricting descriptions of “sexual conduct,” even threatening criminal charges. But a federal court just held the law to be overbroad and unconstitutional.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
What happens when the government “enforces” the law by ignoring it? The answer hit the Trump administration hard. A federal court ruled this week that the government crossed the line when it froze billions in @harvard.edu’s funding—just as FIRE has publicly argued. 🧵
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
UTC is backpedaling on its Greek life ban, ending it early and referring to it as a temporary “pause.” But last time we checked, the First Amendment isn’t a TV show, and admins don’t get a remote. Blatant censorship isn’t a pause—it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
BREAKING: Free speech doesn’t stop when the sun sets—but Texas thinks it does. A new Texas law forces public universities to ban virtually all expressive activities after 10 PM, a violation of the First Amendment. That’s why FIRE is suing to stop this chilling law in its tracks.
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Ari Cohn @aricohn.com · 02/09/2025
1/ No government officials can memory-hole their own speech in an attempt to hide their past statements from the public. Doing it through improper copyright complaints is no less censorship than a direct government order.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Schools should be a place where students can share ideas. But in Montgomery County, VA, speaking up could get you sent to the principal’s office. A new hate speech policy says students and staff could face discipline for speech that “disparages” others—disruptive or not.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
The party’s over at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. UTC suspended all 25 campus fraternities and sororities after public reports of misconduct from two chapters. Rather than punish the perpetrators, UTC banned groups that did nothing wrong merely because they shared a Greek alphabet.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
STATEMENT: President Trump may believe he has the power to revise the First Amendment with the stroke of a pen, but he doesn’t. Flag burning as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment. That’s nothing new.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
The University of Missouri canceled a Black student group’s back-to-school event for using “Black” in the event name. Yes, you read that right. Administrators decided the punny name was discriminatory and “race exclusive.”
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
A Columbus, OH high school reportedly warned students not to speak to the press after a problematic bathroom policy caused long lines, UTIs, and girls menstruating through their clothes. FIRE stepped in—securing a commitment to student speech rights in the Buckeye State.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Behind the ivy-covered walls of American higher education, the barbed wire around free thought is tightening. A shocking new exposé by FIRE's @sarahemclaugh.bsky.social reveals the hidden threat of authoritarian influence in our colleges and universities. Get your copy TODAY! 🔥
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Be careful what you say in Kyle, TX, city council meetings. During a recent public comment period, Yvonne Flores-Cale suggested city officials were trying to conceal unethical conduct. The mayor cut her off, and the police escorted her away from the mic. And it’s all on video.👇
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
VICTORY! In a win for student expression on campus, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals today overruled a lower court's decision, sided with FIRE’s clients, and blocked West Texas A&M University’s unconstitutional ban on drag shows.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Last spring, the University of North Texas ordered an indefinite, system-wide “pause” on all drag performances over the perceived “ideology” of drag shows. But this open-ended pause is just a ban in disguise. FIRE and @aclutx.bsky.social urge UNT to lift this restraint on campus expression.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Want to support a political candidate with a yard sign? What about your favorite sports team? Good luck with that in Southold, NY, where most yard signs are completely banned. Now, a new amendment singles out temporary political signs in the name of “traffic safety.”
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
When you sue the U.S. Secretary of State for deporting noncitizens for their protected speech, people have questions. Like: 👉🏻Do noncitizens even have free speech rights? 👉🏻Can the federal government deport people for their speech? We hear you, and we’ve got answers.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
57% of “very liberal” students in FIRE’s 2024 College Free Speech Rankings say they experience poor mental health at least half the time, compared to 35% of “very conservative” students. Both numbers are high, but the gap is striking.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
In the United States, you shouldn’t have to show a passport to voice an opinion. We The People don’t need Secretary Rubio and the federal government to protect us from ideas. That’s about as un-American as it gets. 📺 @cnn.com
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
“Sticks and stones may break my bones” isn’t just a childhood idiom. It’s part of a cultural foundation that once defended free speech and emotional resilience. Now, a new FIRE survey shows phrases like that are vanishing from the American vocabulary.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
“What does not have an arguable constitutional basis is someone voicing an opinion that would be completely protected if you or I said it, and the secretary of state saying, ‘We don’t like the ideas you’re spreading — get out.” 🎙️: Conor Fitzpatrick 📰: @nytimes.com
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
BREAKING: FIRE is suing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, challenging the laws he is using to target lawfully present noncitizens for speech protected by the Constitution. No administration should be able to deport lawfully present noncitizens for their opinions. www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit...
thefire.org
LAWSUIT: FIRE challenges unconstitutional provisions Rubio uses in crusade to deport legal immigrants over protected speech
FIRE seeks a landmark ruling that the First Amendment forbids the government from deporting lawfully present noncitizens for constitutionally protected speech
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
After pressure from a small anti-porn group, payment processors Mastercard and Visa pushed online platforms Itchio and Steam to remove hundreds of adult-rated games. Financial gatekeepers shouldn’t cave to pressure campaigns that demand they decide what speech is allowed.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
South Park’s season opener ruffled President Trump’s feathers and reminded us that satire has long been an American tool to criticize those in power. From your local town hall to 1600 Penn Avenue, no one is above the punchline. reason.com/2025/07/30/s...
reason.com
South Park's Trump takedown joins a proud American tradition
Trump’s allies are threatening late-night shows, hinting at comedy crackdowns, and fuming over South Park’s brutal new episode.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
VICTORY! After FIRE’s advocacy, the Utah State Board of Education has revised its guidance: Students can carry personal copies of books banned from curriculum. That’s a major shift from language that instructed school staff to tell students they couldn’t bring them.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
More colleges and universities than ever have no written policies seriously threatening free expression, according to FIRE’s 2025 Spotlight on Speech Codes Report.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
A new Kansas law bans public university employees from using “gender ideology” in any communication. What does that mean exactly? We don't know. Employees using words like “boy,” “women,” or “maternity” will now need to stop and think whether their words follow the law.
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Adam Steinbaugh @adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
In light of his frivolous lawsuits and record of vexatious litigation, @thefireorg.bsky.social is asking an Iowa court to require Donald Trump to post a $300,000 bond in his second lawsuit against J. Ann Selzer. www.thefire.org/research-lea...
thefire.org
Trump v. Selzer - Motion and Brief in Support of Motion for Stay
FIRE to defend veteran pollster J. Ann Selzer in the lawsuit filed by President-Elect Donald Trump over outlier election poll.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
You never pay an extortionist just once. Skydance has committed to the FCC that it will appoint a mediator to review “incidents of bias” following CBS’s $16 million settlement with the Trump administration.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
BREAKING: FIRE has filed a lawsuit against Allentown, PA, defending a protester's rights to film and criticize police activity in public spaces after officers chased him with a patrol car and cited him for disorderly conduct and loitering.
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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
The White House is explicitly saying it can kick out of the press pool any publication that doesn’t bow and scrape to the president’s whims.
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