first amendment Archives

Free speech experts weigh in on University’s decision to allow ‘anti-trans’ events

By Punya Bhasin, News Editor • April 18, 2023

In terms of whether the University could face legal repercussions if it canceled the “anti-trans” events, some first amendment experts have varying viewpoints on the answer, but they agree that the University is upholding the principles of free speech and the First Amendment.

Editorial | Student press needs to be unrestricted

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • February 18, 2022

The silencing of Texas A&M’s student newspaper has bad implications for all independent student journalism

Editorial: Acknowledge fake ads, not just fake news

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • October 27, 2019

It is Facebook’s responsibility to limit ads with false information, not just news with false information.

Editorial | Assange’s journalist credentials aren’t the issue

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • May 28, 2019

His prosecution is worrisome because it erases the line between the responsibility of government employees to safeguard information and the freedom of civilians who are protected under the First Amendment.

Opinion | Trump’s executive order for free speech is ineffective

By Hayden Timmins, Staff Columnist • March 27, 2019

The order states that the government can withhold federal funds if the school is deemed to have violated the First Amendment, but it offers no specific way of determining this.

As Trump announces ‘Fake News Awards,’ GOP senators assail his attacks on the press as anti-democratic

By Noah Bierman | Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS) • January 18, 2018

On a day President Donald Trump promised to deliver "Fake News Awards," two Republican senators as well as several Democrats warned Wednesday that his unceasing attacks on a free press are undermining...

Editorial: ACLU threatens Harris with strong First Amendment lawsuit

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • November 16, 2017

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Darlene Harris somehow manages to regularly get herself into the petty types of quarrels that make Buzzfeed headlines — in April last year, she made local headlines when...

Editorial: St. Louis police endanger freedom of the press

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • September 25, 2017

Conventional wisdom proposes that it’s difficult to truly care about an issue until that issue affects you personally. For journalists in St. Louis, the controversy surrounding police brutality in America...

Berkeley braces for right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro’s visit

By Anna M. Phillips | Los Angeles Times (TNS) • September 12, 2017

Girding itself for a visit from another polarizing political figure and the possibility of more violent protests, the University of California, Berkeley is tightening campus security. In a message sent...