Tag: hate speech

Massachusetts Family Institute Defends First Amendment Rights of 12-Year-Old Student Against School That Punished Him for Wearing ‘Two Genders’ Shirt

Susan Berry, PhD

The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) announced Tuesday the public policy organization sent a demand letter to the superintendent of Middleborough Public Schools on behalf of a 12-year-old student who was allegedly punished for wearing a shirt that said, “There are only two genders.”

Liam Morrison defended his First Amendment rights to his school committee on April 13, several weeks after he was reportedly taken out of gym class at Nichols Middle School and informed by school staff that complaints had been made about the shirt he was wearing that said, “There are only two genders.”

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FBI to Investigate ‘Hate Speech’ Attack on School That Banned Girls from Their Own Locker Room

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The FBI is helping investigate an anti-LGBTQ hate speech attack that occurred on a Vermont school district’s website, according to a Tuesday statement by the superintendent.

The Orange Southwest School District’s website is currently disabled following an Oct. 1 attack to its website which included “hate speech, symbols, and photographs targeting transgender individuals,” according to the VT Digger. The FBI is working to investigate the attack, according to a statement by the superintendent Layne Millington.

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TikTok Bans ‘Misgendering’ and ‘Deadnaming’ to Promote ‘Safety’ and ‘Security’

Admin

TikTok is banning users from “misgendering” and “deadnaming” others in an effort to improve the social media platform, the company announced Tuesday.

The company announced the new policies in updated community guidelines released Tuesday, saying it will now explicitly ban certain practices classified under the umbrella of “hateful ideologies.”

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Another Whistleblower Files SEC Complaint Alleging Facebook Didn’t Do Enough About ‘Hate Speech’, ‘Misinformation’

Admin
Person looking on Facebook with trending topics

Another former Facebook employee filed a whistleblower complaint Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that the tech giant misled its investors by failing to combat the spread of hate and misinformation on its platform, The Washington Post reported.

The former employee, whose name is not yet public, alleged that Facebook executives chose not to pursue adequate content moderation policies related to hate speech and misinformation for the sake of maximizing profits. The complaint also alleges that Facebook did not do enough about alleged Russian misinformation on the platform for fear of upsetting former President Donald Trump.

In particular, the complaint alleges that Trump and his associates received preferential treatment, according to the Post.

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Mesa Public Schools Updates Dress Code Policy to be ‘More Equitable,’ Will Define ‘Hate Speech’ Based on Dictionary

Corinne Murdock

Mesa Public Schools (MPS) updated their dress code policy to make it more equitable and prohibit “hate speech.” Nowhere in their current policies does MPS define “hate speech.”

As reported by The Arizona Sun Times last month, MPS General Counsel Kacey Gregson said that students would have a right to express their political beliefs unless it could be perceived as “hate speech,” promoting violence, or immediately or potentially causing substantial interference with the learning environment.

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Mesa Public Schools Considering a ‘More Equitable’ Dress Code Policy Without ‘Hate Speech,’ Board Hasn’t Shared Details of Regulations

Corinne Murdock
Mesa High School AZ entrance

Mesa Public Schools (MPS) is looking to adopt more equitable changes to their dress code policy – details of which the governing board hasn’t shared. The MPS Governing Board didn’t respond to request for comment from The Arizona Sun Times by press time – their communications staff told The Sun Times that district offices closed on Friday.

This week, MPS introduced a revamped policy that specifies certain, explicit restrictions, such as an outright ban on clothing that depicts “hate speech,” and limits any enforcement that might “reinforce or increase marginalization or repression of any group,” such as gender identity or expression and body type or size.

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Commentary: The List of Contraband Symbolism, Political Views, and Speech Will Grow

Arizona Sun Times Staff
Confederate flag blowing in wind

Outside Christie’s home in upstate New York, nestled beneath a tree near her driveway, sits a small rock painted with a Confederate flag that could cost her the custody of her little girl. 

In a row between parents identified only as Christie and Isaiah, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court’s Third Department unanimously allowed the pair to retain joint custody of their biracial child but ordered the mother to remove the rebel rock by June 1. Failing that, the court ruled the rock’s “continued presence shall constitute a change in circumstances.” 

Put plainly, the bench threatened to revisit parents’ custody agreement and warned: “Family Court shall factor this into any future best interests analysis.”

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