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Saw a flyer get ripped down right in front of the free speech board at my uni

I used to think free speech zones were fine because at least students had somewhere to talk. Then last week at Arizona State I watched a guy tear down a pro-choice flyer from the designated board, and security just stood there. That changed my mind because the zone didn't protect anything - it just gave people a target. Now I think these zones actually make speech easier to shut down since they're all in one spot. Has anyone else seen security let people rip down flyers without saying anything?
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2 Comments
brooke71
brooke711mo agoMost Upvoted
Waited to see if security would do something at my school's board too, and they just walked past while someone ripped down a flyer about a LGBTQ+ event. I mean, the whole point of a designated zone is supposed to be that it's a safe space for expression, but it seems like security only cares if someone's being loud or blocking a walkway. Maybe it's different at other schools, but at mine the free speech zone feels more like a permission spot where the administration can pretend they're protecting speech without actually doing anything.
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daniel552
daniel5521mo ago
Sounds about right. Free speech zone = free speech theater.
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