A Space Not So Safe: The Recent Censorship of Conservative Speech

In the wake of conservative powerhouse Ben Shapiro being banned to speak at DePaul University, the regressive left can rightfully chalk up another tally mark on the ever-growing list of conservatives they’ve managed to silence.

“Given the experiences and security concerns that some other schools have had with Ben Shapiro speaking on their campuses,” DePaul’s vice president wrote in an email to the benefactor of Shapiro’s speaking tour, the Young American Foundation (YAF), “DePaul cannot agree to allow him to speak on our campuses at this time.”

Shapiro, a conservative political commentator, is just one in a long line of conservatives who has recently been censored because of his ‘controversial’ viewpoints — which naturally conflict with liberal ideology. He routinely speaks on ‘controversial’ conservative topics and did so in February at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) in support of his “When Diversity Becomes a Problem” tour. Days prior to the event, Shapiro was met with such heavy protest on campus that CSULA canceled the event, citing a more important need to have Shapiro “appear as part of a group of speakers with differing viewpoints on diversity.” CSULA felt that “[s]uch an event will better represent our university dedication to the free exchange of ideas and the value of considering multiple viewpoints.”

However, CSULA’s hypocrisy concerning controversial topics is nothing short of comical. Immediately after the canceled event, the YAF published a list of liberal speakers that had spoken at CSULA — all without entertaining other views and values on a diverse panel. This list included several liberal orators speaking on a range of topics including cultural racism, white privilege, and whether or not Muslim women really need freedom. DePaul had no problem securing the campus for these speakers.

Shapiro, appearing on the Kelly File, posited, “[DePaul] can’t keep their own students from assaulting people, so therefore they can’t bring in speakers who disagree with the students. So basically we now have the rioters’ veto.” He continued, “my biggest problem is that what they’re really doing is they’re equating words with violence. So they’re saying that the students get violent, therefore my words must be the driving factor in them getting violent. If this is how things are going to be from now on, free speech doesn’t exist because it really creates an incentive for people to get violent at protests and get violent when speakers come [to make sure] the people they disagree with don’t get to show up on campus anymore.”

This is not just happening to Shapiro — Milo Yiannopoulos, Lauren Southern, and other well-known conservative political commentators have also had their statements, Tweets, and posts taken down from online entities purporting to provide a fair balance of ideas.

Milo and Twitter

As recently as July, Twitter permanently banned conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos, who went by the handle, @nero. An intense online feud between himself and actress Leslie Jones came to a pinnacle when Yiannopoulos published a scathing review of the feminist remake of the 1984-hit, Ghostbusters, which Jones starred in. He wrote, “[t]he overarching problem with Ghostbusters is that the script is a greater abomination to God than any of the demons and ghosts in the franchise. I’m sure they could have done a worse job, but they’d have to study Tobin’s Spirit Guide to summon a script from an even deeper circle of Hell.”

Almost immediately after Yiannopoulos published his review, his fans, too, chimed in on their thoughts of Jones’ film. Like Yiannopoulos, they agreed that the movie was as dreadful as the selection of the cast and let Jones know it.

While Twitter doesn’t usually publicly give definitive reasons why any particular user is banned, it claimed Yiannopoulos was banned because of “participating in or inciting targeted abuse of individuals.”

While it’s true that Jones received some gnarly Tweets from Yiannopoulos’ fans (though not from Yiannopoulos himself), it seems as Jones has forgotten the tried-and-true (and sometimes tragic) rule that fame comes with a price.

It also seems that Jones and liberal media have conveniently forgotten about Jones’ own derogatory and racist Tweets, wherein she complains about “white people s**t,” chastises another for sitting next to “a white women,” refers to a sports announcer as a “goofy white boy,” and is extremely dismayed when she learns that a “white boy” has presumably won an award for “best dj.”

Lauren Southern

Lauren Southern, another conservative commentator, was suspended from her Facebook account for 30 days when she called out Facebook for suspending another conservative media outlet’s account.

Southern’s post read: “As I suspected my friend who runs Disdain for Plebs has been banned on all his accounts that run the page AND Facebook deleted his post calling them out for censoring conservatives. This is utterly insane.”

You can’t make this stuff up.

Southern’s Facebook account was locked shortly thereafter. She later commented, “Facebook is a private company, they can do what they like. But if they intend to continue censoring right-wing viewpoints, they should be honest about it. Come out and say it, Zuckerberg. Your platform, which is used by millions of people, is being used to push a left-wing agenda. If Facebook is a platform for all ideas, then Zuckerberg — you have some major changes to make that go beyond pathetic photo-ops with Glenn Beck.”

Shortly after backlash by Southern’s followers, Facebook unblocked her account claiming it was an error. Southern and conservatives with an ounce of brain didn’t buy the social media site’s mea culpa.

Unrestricted and Open Discussion is the Only Way to Find the Truth

In the interest of making the most informed decision possible, a self-governing people must be able to speak openly and freely concerning political matters.

As with the individual, the media has an equally important role to play in a true democracy. In fact, several reasons support the need for an open and unrestricted media. These reasons include everything from the ability to criticize the government when it makes mistakes, the need to accurately inform the public of current events in the furtherance of provoking public debates, to keeping politicians attuned to public opinion.

Today’s social media fora grant nearly unfettered access to the ability to publish thoughts and ideas. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and VK are just a number of platforms that allow someone to immediately disseminate thoughts and ideas. However, social media fora are beginning to silence conservatives one-by-one. The number of fair and balanced platforms from which to project thoughts and ideas are growing smaller by the generation.

As such, free speech is nothing to be taken for granted. Along with the right to bear arms, the freedom of speech is the most valuable weapon we have against a tyrannical government. Many years ago, Ronald Reagan warned Americans, “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” And, as Shapiro, who practices orthodox judaism, explained in a now-viral interview with Piers Morgan, “the fact that my grandparents and great grandparents in Europe didn’t fear [a tyrannical government] is why they’re now ashes in Europe.”

It’s happening now at our universities and it’s happening now to our social media platforms. Look at DePaul — look at Twitter.

Conservatives: as champions of individual liberty, it’s up to us to ensure that the abatement of basic freedoms, especially the freedom of speech, remains a concept that can only be but a fantasy in a liberal’s safest of spaces.

Blake J. Dugger

Follow Blake J. Dugger on Twitter @molonlabe1775