Free speech or hate speech? Campus debates over universities in a bind over First Amendment

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The nation’s college campuses are facing growing pressure to redefine the limits of the First Amendment in an age of resurgent white supremacists: rallies featuring clashes between far-right and far-left groups; pleas for inclusiveness and equality and against racism; and a desire for so-called safe spaces.

Demands for free speech often become secondary to concerns about safety and hate and victimhood, even as those terms are increasingly difficult to define. That conflict was on display Oct 19 when hundreds of protesters at the University of Florida drowned out a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer, prompting him to leave the stage early.


Free speech or hate speech? Campus debates over universities in a bind over First Amendment