Showerthought: My old college's 'heckler's veto' policy is just a way to ban people quietly

My school, a state university in Ohio, had a rule that if a speaker's event was likely to cause 'substantial disruption,' the administration could cancel it. They used that to stop a conservative writer from coming in 2022 after some student groups protested. I used to think that was just being safe, but a professor told me point blank, 'That's not safety, that's letting the loudest voices decide who gets heard.' It changed my whole view. Now I see those 'disruption' clauses as a backdoor to avoid free speech fights. Has your school used a rule like this to cancel a talk?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancy_davis3mo agoTop Commenter

Heard a similar story from a friend at a community college. They canceled a talk on local politics because a few people complained online. Makes you wonder who gets to decide what a "disruption" even is.

jaden693mo ago

But what if the online complaints were actually threats? I saw a case where a speaker got doxxed and harassed after a planned event was posted. The school didn't cancel over opinions, they canceled because someone posted the speaker's home address. Sometimes "disruption" means real safety concerns, not just people being upset.

terry_bailey351mo ago

Man that's a whole different situation right there. Doxxing is crossing a major line and I can't blame anyone for pulling the plug when someone's home address gets posted online. That's not political disagreement anymore, that's putting someone in actual danger and the school has a duty to protect people on their campus. Totally get why they'd cancel in a case like that, safety has to come first no matter what side you're on.