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Laws and Proposed Laws, 2008 to present

  • Ag-gag laws

Laws that seek to block animal rights activists and others from recording or otherwise documenting alleged abuses of animals or animal cruelty in the agriculture industry, often as part of undercover investigations, are referred to as ag-gag laws. Defenders of the laws contend they are necessary to protect agricultural property, business operations and privacy.  Detractors

  • California Assembly Bill 1570

Critics of a California law cracking down on authentication of autographed
collectibles say it violates the First Amendment by limiting the spread of
information.

  • Campus Free Speech Protection Laws

College campuses have long been testing grounds for freedom of speech. In the 1960s, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, motivated in part by student opposition to the Vietnam War, challenged campus regulations of freedom of speech.  In recent years, students have shouted down popular speakers and campuses have disinvited controversial speakers.  The October 7 attack by Hamas

  • Drag Show Laws

States in 2022 and 2023 began introducing laws to restrict drag show
performances, raising questions about the First Amendment rights of free
expression.

  • Executive Order Designating English as Official U.S. Language

Among the many orders President Donald Trump issued during the first 100 days of his second term was an order on March 1, 2025, that designated English as the official language of the United States. Although many states, especially those in the South and the Great Plains, have already declared English the official language, prior legislative

  • Free Flow of Information Act

The Free Flow of Information Act would create a federal shield law to
protect reporters. Opponents of the law say the First Amendment does not
entitle press to special privileges.

  • Funeral Protests

Funeral protest laws have been passed in response to distasteful protests
at military funerals. Courts have generally upheld the laws against First
Amendment challenges.

  • Kids Online Safety Act

Recent years have witnessed the increased use of social media not only by adults but also by juveniles. Studies have suggested that excessive exposure to social media had led to increasing isolation, particularly among such juveniles.  In a number of high-profile cases, juveniles who have been catfished (subject to individuals misrepresenting their identity), doxed (having personal

  • Louisiana Ten Commandments law

The Louisiana Ten Commandments case in which a federal judge stopped a state law requiring public schools to post the religious document in all classrooms could test the boundaries of a 2022 Supreme Court decision on separation of church and state. In Roake v. Brumley (2024), Judge John W. deGravelles, who had been appointed by President

  • Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009)

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009)
does not penalize speech unless the speech is intended to incite hate
crimes.

  • Same-Sex Couple Adoption Laws

Some states have laws that allow adoption agencies to refuse adoption
services to same-sex couples, raising questions about First Amendment
religious rights.

  • Stop W.O.K.E Act (Florida) (2022)

A federal judge blocked Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act saying that it violates
the First Amendment by limiting professors at state schools from expressing
certain viewpoints related to race, sex and country of origin when relevant
to the curriculum.

  • Texas law on Bible-based curricula for public elementary schools

Much like the Louisiana legislature adopted a law to post the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms, the Texas state school board has opened its public school classrooms for the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum. This program, which is widely interpreted as favoring Christianity, includes teachings by Jesus, stories such as the parable of the prodigal

  • TikTok Bans and Regulation

It’s no exaggeration to use the term “exploding growth” if you’re referring to TikTok, a social media, content-sharing platform that has gone from zero to more than 2.5 billion worldwide users, including an estimated 170 million or more in the United States, in less than six years. The platform showcases short-form user videos. While younger users

  • Trump Executive Order on Restoring Freedom of Speech

Donald J. Trump entered his second nonconsecutive presidential term determined to make an immediate impact. To this end, he signed numerous executive orders on his first day of office, the same day he pardoned those who had been charged and or convicted for their involvement in the attacks of Jan. 6, 2021, on the U.S.

  • Trump’s Executive Orders Against Law Firms

Although the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees basic freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, and [by implication] association, such provisions are rarely self-enforcing. To a large extent, they rely on the ability of individuals and institutions to challenge threats to these rights in courts. That is one reason that so many entries

ABOUT US

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The Free Speech Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy center dedicated to building understanding of the five freedoms of the First Amendment through education, information and engagement.

freespeechcenter@mtsu.edu

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FEATURE POSTS

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A contentious 12 months for the First Amendment

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