1. Abortion, Infanticide, Humanity, Free Speech
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2012
   Abortion is right, and infanticide is wrong, because there IS a moral boundary between the fetus and the newborn.
2. And Then They Came For Me
   Final Words from Lasantha Wickrematunge
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2009
   An editorial by Lasantha Wickrematunge shortly before he was murdered on January 8, 2009, and published three days after his death.
3. The Case for Grassroots Archives
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2012
   Grassroots archives play a valuable role in what has been called "the battle of memory". People's history projects such as grassroots archives preserve and share stories of resistance, hidden histories, and alternative visions.
4. Censorship in Canada - When the Censor Comes
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 1996
   Developed primarily for teachers, librarians, booksellers and others who disseminate the printed word, this guide offers basic information about dealing with would-be censors. Researched and written by Sandra Bernstein for the Freedom of Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical Council.
5. Challenged Books List
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2004
   A partial list of books subjected to censorship attempts in Canada from the early 1980s to 2003.
6. Chevron's Crude Attacks
   Court Sides With Big Oil
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2011
   Yet another instance of the increasingly pro-business stance of the US legal system.
7. Chomsky.Info 
   Resource Type: Website
   The Noam Chomsky Web site.
8. A climate of fear endangers press freedom
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 2009
   Today, the greatest threats to freedom of the press are more insidious than a generation ago because they are intended to induce a climate of fear and self-censorship through systematic violence and emblematic arrest aimed at those who would practice real, independent journalism.
9. Connexions Annual Resource and Reading List
   Resource Type: Article
   First Published: 1989   Published: 1994
   A short and selective list of resources on issues addressed in the Connexions Annual, such as environment, education, peace, interntional development, women's issues, urban issues, housing, human rights, civil liberties, social change.
10. Culture Inc.
    The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1989
    Schiller defends democratic expression and free access to information while demonstrating the ways in which public expression, public space, and public access to information are becoming increasingly limited and controlled.
11. Defending the right to offend, shock or disturb
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    Insult laws are designed to protect politicians, government leaders and officials and state institutions, arming the state with access to resources and legal doctrines that no other citizen has.
12. Domestic reality does not match bold words on Internet freedom of expression
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2011
    The U.S. government gives lip service to online free speech but simultaneously acts in ways to drastically limit freedom of expression.
13. Don't Incite Censorship
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2007
    Free speech for everyone but bigots is no free speech at all.
    
14. Fame & Fortune Online
    Resource Type: Website
    Comprehensive listing of awards available to Canadian journalists.
15. Feminists Against Censorship
    Resource Type: Website
    A group of feminist academics and campaigners who fight censorship from a feminist perspective. They believe:
    1) Censorship is a dangerous tool that is primarily used to suppress dissent from those who would challenge oppression by society and the state, and particularly victimizes minorities.
    2) Censorship is used by those in power as a way to avoid dealing with serious, intractable problems in society that require real, imaginative action, and are not solved by banning words and images.
    3) Women must have recourse to free expression in order to explore the truth of our own experience and sexuality that has been forcibly hidden from us for millennia, and the state must no longer be permitted to interfere with this discourse.
    4) Censorship can never eliminate evil ideas, and so the best answer to bad speech is more speech.
    5) Censorship gives unacceptable powers to the police to invade our privacy and harass individuals who they find threatening although they pose no threat to others.
16. 50 Ways to Fight Censorship
    And Important Facts to Know about Censors
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1991
    A practical guide to generating support and publicity for freedom of speech and how to combat acts of censorship.
17. Free Speech and Acceptable Truths
    Statement of the Alumni for Responsible Speech
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2008
    While we support freedom of speech and academic freedom, we believe that university administrations have a duty to provide a safe learning environment in which students and faculty are protected by incorrect or harmful ideas. To achieve this safe learning environment, it will be necessary for the university authorities to cleanse the university's libraries of harmful books, to block inappropriate Internet sites, to ban guest lectures who hold improper views, and to identify and prosecute students and faculty who are guilty of thought crimes.
    
18. 'Free speech' - as long as it doesn't offend anyone 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    On the issue of free speech most of the right and much of the left are in agreement, and so too are many liberals, activists, and human rights apparatchiks. They hold essentially the same position on freedom of expression - they are for it -in principle-, but only so long as it isn't used to express views that they find unacceptable or offensive. What they disagree about is merely who gets to decide what ideas are unacceptable, i.e., who gets to censor who.
    
19. Free Speech For Me - But Not For Thee
    How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1992
    Hentoff is a passionate believer in free speech who recognizes that if speech is truly to be free, we must protect the expression even of ideas we abhors. He catalogues with equal disapproval the efforts of both the right and the left to censor speech they don't like. While being sympathetic to those who object to allowing bigots, racists, pornographers, atheists, and others of many stripes the right to lay out ideas that one group or another finds repugnant, he makes both an intellectual and an emotional case for allowing everyone to have their say, no matter how much this may offend some. He points out that suppressing speech doesn't get rid of the underlying thought, but merely drives it underground and gives it the benefit of martyrdom.
20. Free speech for me - you shut up
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2008
    The right to express offensive views is at the very heart of the principle of free speech.
    
21. Free Speech in a Plural Society
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2006
    The argument against free speech is really an argument in defence of particular sectional interests. And that is the best reason for rejecting restraints on speech. We can build a plural society in which free speech provides the means of engagement and dialogue between different parts of society.
    
22. Freedom to Read Week
    Resource Type: Website
    Freedom to Read Week encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom.
23. From Fatwa to Jihad
    The Rushdie Affair and its Legacy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2009
    Tells the story both of the Rushdie affair and of its transformative impact on cultural and political landscape of the West. The book explores the issues that the Rushide affair raised. in particular the questions of muliculturalism, radical Islam and free speech, and shows how in responding to these issues Western liberals have betrayed the fundamental beliefs of liberalism.
24. Gag Rule
    On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2004
    Dissent is democracy. Democracy is in trouble. Never before, Lapham argues, have voices of protest been so locked out of the mainstream conversation. A call to action in defense of one of the most important liberties, the right to raise our voices against the powers that be, and to have those voice heard.
25. Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2008
    Advice and technical tips for the best way to launch a blog and how to get round online censorship. It includes an explanation of how to blog anonymously and contains articles by bloggers, particularly in Egypt and Burma.
26. Hate Speech and Free Speech
    The Wrong Kind of Climate Control
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2011
    Laws against sedition, in whatever guise, are an attack on free speech. Unlike laws against those rare instances of incitement which trigger immediate and actual violence against a present target (as in "get him boys!"), laws against sedition are always couched in vague, open ended terms because the real target is not the alleged "dangers" protected against but some political agenda or ideology that is opposed.
27. Here We Go Again 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    One thing should be clear. The violence across the Muslim world in response to an American anti-Islamic film has nothing to do with that film. Yes, The Inocence of Muslims is a risibly crude diatribe against Islam, but the violence is being driven less by religious fury than by political calculation. In Libya, Egypt and elsewhere, the crisis is being fostered by hardline Islamists in an attempt to seize the political initiative in a period of transition and turmoil. The film is almost incidental to this process. The real struggle is not between Muslims and non-Muslims, but between different shades of Islamists, between hardline factions and more mainstream ones.
28. His Right to Say It
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1981
    Chomsky takes the opportunity to clarify the details of the so-called Faurisson Affair in which he played a catalytic role by signing a controversial petition. He defends his involvement by reiterating and exploring the principle of self-expression irrespective of content.
29. If boycotts could change the system they'd be illegal
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1996
    A ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal says that boycotting by a grassroots group Friends of the Lubicon Lake Cree Nation of Daishowa paper products was illegal because it resulted in economic harm to the corporation. This is an example of a growing number of "SLAPP suits" Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation brought by corporations against activists.
30. In Defense of Free Speech
    It's Easier to Blame Bad Filmmakers Than to Address Massive War Crimes
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    The answer to speech you disagree with is … (drum roll) … MORE SPEECH.
31. Index on Censorship
    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    One of the world's leading repositories of original, challenging, controversial and intelligent writing on free expression issues. Documents free expression abuses in scores of countries world wide.and reports on censorship issues from all over the world.
32. Jewish Canadians Concerned About Suppression of Criticism of Israel
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    We are Jewish Canadians concerned about all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and social injustice. We believe that the Holocaust legacy "Never again" means never again for all peoples. It is a tragic turn of history that the State of Israel, with its ideals of democracy and its dream of being a safe haven for Jewish people, causes immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people.
33. Manufacturing Consent 
    The Political Economy of the Mass Media
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1988
    Contrary to the usual image of the press and cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitious in its search for truth, Herman and Chomsky depict how an underlying elite consensus largely structures all facets of the news. They analyze how issues are framed and topics chosen, and the way in which the marketplace and the economics of publishing significantly shape the news.
34. Memory as Resistance: Grassroots Archives and the Battle of Memory
    Preservation as subversion: Do grassroots archives have a future?
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    CONNEXIONS and Beit Zatoun are spotlighting grassroots archives this November with an open house and networking event November 24, a talk and discussion November 27, and an exhibit (November 16-27). Grassroots archives play a valuable role in what has been called “the battle of memory”. Mainstream media and institutions of power consign inconvenient histories, struggles, and alternative visions to what George Orwell called “the memory hole.” People’s history projects such as grassroots archives preserve and share stories of resistance, hidden histories, and alternative visions. Their role is particularly important as official archives are forced to restrict acquisitions, limit access and discard materials as funding is slashed.
35. Out of Bounds
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    Why do we talk so much about hate speech these days? Largely because hate speech has become a way of rebranding extremist ideas to stress their moral content; in other words, of rebranding obnoxious political claims as immoral arguments. Where once we might have challenged such sentiments politically, today we are more likely to seek criminal sanctions to outlaw them.
36. Passionate Declarations
    Essays on War and Justice
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1990   Published: 2003
    Essays looking at American political ideology.
37. PayPal admits US pressure over WikiLeaks account freeze
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2010
    PayPal today admitted it suspended payments to WikiLeaks after an intervention from the US State Department.
38. PEN Centre
    Organization profile published 1986
    Resource Type: Organization
    First Published: 1986
    
39. Pornography in a Free Society
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1988
    An examination of public policy debates about pornography in the United States in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
40. Progressives shouldn't be begging the police to take more power
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1984
    The last thing we need is to hand the police even more power to decide what we are allowed to see or read.
41. Protect the Freedom to Shock
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2001
    Far from being the cornerstone of a diverse, plural society, the refusal to give offence shows respect neither for oneself nor for others. Respect for oneself requires self-belief, a willingness to take a stand, to be unpopular, to refuse to see oneself as a victim easily disturbed by provocative beliefs. Respecting others means not ignoring them but engaging with them by putting them on their mettle and challenging their ideas and arguments. Without heated, entrenched debate a plural society becomes but a hollow shell.
    
42. The pursuit of Julian Assange is an assault on freedom and a mockery of journalism
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    Four years ago, a barely noticed Pentagon document, leaked by WikiLeaks, described how WikiLeaks and Assange would be destroyed with a smear campaign leading to "criminal prosecution". We are witnessing the implementation of that plan.
43. 'Rachel' screening in San Francisco shows a growing movement tired of being censored about Israel
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    A wide spectrum of individuals and organizations attempt to enforce the axiom: there shall be no public criticism of Israel. This platitude ironically goes hand in hand with the view that #Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.# Over the past several decades, self-appointed watch dogs of appropriate Israel discourse have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and poured out enormous doses of vitriol upon any individual or organization that dares to expresses even a drop of sympathy with the plight of Palestinians.
44. Radical Digressions 
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 2006   Published: 2010
    Ulli Diemer's website/blog featuring comment from a radcial left-libertarian perspective.
    
45. Radical Digressions 2
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 1981   Published: 2000
    
46. Radical Digressions 4
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 2006   Published: 2008
    
47. Radical Digressions 5
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 2008
    
48. Radical Perspectives in the Arts
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1972
    An anthology of Marxist literary and cultural criticism.
49. Respect is a Two-Way Street
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2006
    There is a whiff of hypocrisy among some Muslims who, in the name of being spared offence, want to censor other people's opinions.
50. The Right to Offend
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1990   Published: 1991
    Humans do have a right to offend other humans, especially in presenting dissent from the views with which many people seem to be very content. This includes those views called religious.
51. Rights and Liberties
    Introduction to Volume 9, Number 2, of the Connexions Digest (Rights & Liberties issue)
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1984
    Civil liberties and human rights appear as a key dimension in almost every other field of social justice and social change, but those who seek a freer and more just society cannot rely on the state to achieve their goals.
52. Rosa Luxemburg 
    Selected Political Writings
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1972
    A selection of Rosa Luxemburg's writings which highlight her outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of revolutionary socialism.
53. The Rosa Luxemburg Reader 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2004
    A definitive one-volume collection of Luxemburg's writings.
54. '68: The Year of the Barricades 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1988
    Caute's book looks at the explosive year 1968 (while situating it in the context of what had led up to it). One of the great strengths of this excellent book is that it looks at what was happening around the world.
    
55. Some Elementary Comments on The Rights of Freedom of Expression 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1980
    It is precisely in the case of horrendous ideas that the right of free expression must be most vigorously defended; it is easy enough to defend free expression for those who require no such defense.
56. Utopian Essays and Practical Proposals 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1951   Published: 1962
    Whatever the subject, Goodman asks: What blocks and limits human freedom, joy, and creativity? What tends to release, free, liberate? In criticizing society and life his purpose is to improve. Goodman is animated by a vision of a good society, a coherent community, a style, and quality, of life that is fully human, and humanizes.
57. Women Against Censorship
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1985
    Essays which argue that women have nothing to gain by allying themselves with anti-feminist forces and mainstream politicians. The contributors say that censorhip will be used against feminists who seek deep and permanent changes in the status quo.
58. Women and Censorship - Letters to Index on Censorship
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1991
    Reader comments on pornography and censorship.
59. Writing in an Age of Silence
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2007   Published: 2009
    Sara Paretsky explores the traditions of political and literary dissent that have informed her life and work, against the unparallelled repression of free speech and thought in the USA today.
60. Yesterday's News
    Why Canada's Daily Newspapers are Failing Us
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1998
    Illuminates the decline of print journalism, suggests reasons for this decline and proposes solutions to reverse this downward trend.

Experts on Freedom of Expression in the Sources Directory

1. Article 19
2. Center for Socialist History
3. Connexions Information Sharing Services
4. Ulli Diemer
5. Fame & Fortune
6. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
7. Media Names & Numbers
8. OrangeWebsite
9. Seriously Free Speech Committee
10. United Nations Human Rights Council