Table of Contents
The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Silly

As a free speech organization, we see pretty much every type of censorship out there. People are frequently censored at colleges and universities for engaging in controversial political speech. Other times, people are censored for engaging in speech that is crude and repugnant, but that is wholly protected. And then there are times that people seem to be censored for no reason at all. Today’s case at Marquette University is one of those instances. In the spirit of levity, here are a few more of the silliest instances of censorship we’ve seen here at ֭:
- Gonzaga University tried to punish students for engaging in “hate speech” for posting a flyer advertising a speech by the author of the book Why the Left Hates America. Gonzaga administrators reasoned that because the flyer contained the word “hate,” it constituted “hate speech.”
- The University of New Hampshire charged a student with “harassment” and “disorderly conduct” for posting a flyer in his dorm elevators joking that women who want to lose the ‘Freshman 15’ should take the stairs instead of the elevator. The flyer was merely intended to make light of the student’s frustration with people who delay the elevator by taking it for just one or two floors instead of taking the stairs.
- The University of Central Florida attempted to punish a student for calling a student government candidate a “jerk and a fool” on the popular college website Facebook.com.
- Indian River Community College banned a student group from showing The Passion of the Christ because it was rated R, while at the same time allowing the performance of a skit entitled “F*cking for Jesus.”
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.

Maine’s censure of lawmaker for post about trans student-athlete is an attack on free speech
The Maine House is wrong to censure Rep. Laurel Libby — and its actions are a clear retaliation

Trump’s border czar is wrong about AOC
AOC did nothing wrong by informing the public of their constitutional rights when encountering ICE agents

FIREcalls out 60 Minutes investigation as 'political stunt' in comment to FCC
FIREsubmitted a comment to the Federal Communications Commission about a complaint about a 60 Minutes interview with then Vice President Kamala Harris.

The National Institutes of Health shouldn’t use ֭’s College Free Speech Rankings to allocate research funding — here’s what they should do instead
NIH should give research funding to institutions that promise academic freedom to their faculty and researchers.