FIRE (@TheFIREorg) / X

FIRE

26.8K posts

FIRE

@TheFIREorg

We defend and promote free speech for all Americans in our courtrooms, on our campuses, and in our culture.

Philadelphia and Washington

Joined December 2008

Pinned
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 11
Government officials can’t legally censor protected speech, but they can strong-arm private parties into doing it for them. That’s called jawboning, and it violates your First Amendment rights. We’re supporting the JAWBONE Act to stop that coercion.
39K
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 18
What gets published is no longer in student journalists’ hands at one of the largest public school districts in America. Montgomery County Public Schools now requires pre-publication review of all student journalism, posters, and opinion pieces.
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 18
MCPS's memo directly conflicts with existing Maryland law that gives student journalists control over their editorial decisions. We demand MCPS to rescind this policy and restore compliance with state protections and First Amendment standards.
FIRE Letter to Montgomery County Public School District, June 18, 2026
From fire.org
2.4K
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 18
Free speech is most vulnerable when disagreement gets reframed as harm. We defend the space for open disagreement every day, but we can't do it without your support.
9.8K
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 18
Join the Free Speech Movement 🔥
Donate
From fire.org
1.9K
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 18
Congress tried to shut the door on slavery debates, but John Quincy Adams kicked it back open. On The Blessings of Liberty, Bob Crawford of the Grammy-nominated @theavettbros joins Senior Fellow @RosenJeffrey to unpack Adams’s fight against the “gag rule.” 🎧 @JeffreyRosenPod
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 18
What begins as Congressional fights over procedure becomes a larger clash over slavery, free speech, and political power in America. Listen now!
podcasts.apple.com
America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick
Podcast Episode · The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen · June 18 · 1h 8m
1.9K
FIRE reposted
Adam Steinbaugh
@adamsteinbaugh
Jun 17
Listen as a New Jersey judge orders a newspaper to delete a security video the school district wanted deleted from the internet -- and orders the newspaper not to write about it *at all.* A prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment.
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Adam Steinbaugh
@adamsteinbaugh
Jun 17
Outrageous: New Jersey's @nbpschools got a court to order a newspaper to delete a video of a security incident at a high school, where a student brought what police called an "imitation firearm." That prior restraint is an *exceedingly obvious* violation of the First Amendment.
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 17
Silencing a message only makes it spread further. Journalist and suffragist Ida B. Wells knew that well. After a mob burned down her Memphis newspaper, she launched the first sustained anti lynching campaign in U.S. history and helped lead the movement for women’s rights.
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 17
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” Wise words from Ida B. Wells, and she did just that. Through fearless reporting and activism, she showed how using your voice can change the world.
Ida B. Wells: Journalist, activist, civil rights icon, and free speech hero
From fire.org
2K
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 17
From high-stakes poker to high-stakes questions about humanity’s future, @Liv_Boeree has spent her career thinking about risk. A leading researcher and one of the top female poker players of all time, Liv joins Soapbox to explore how societies handle uncertainty and innovation.
00:30
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Feb 4
Free speech has been one of America’s most revolutionary ideas. Now, we invite you to a celebration 250 years in the making. This is Soapbox, FIRE’s free speech conference. Tickets are now on sale.
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 17
Liv will join us at Soapbox, our free speech conference, to tackle some of the biggest questions on AI, game theory, and how societies navigate risk and innovation facing society. Join the conversation! 📅 Nov. 4–6, 2026 📍 Philadelphia, PA
Soapbox | FIRE's Free Speech Conference
From soapbox.fire.org
1.9K
FIRE reposted
Greg Lukianoff
@glukianoff
Jun 17
We ran ourselves ragged this year for free speech. I paid for it in some ways, including getting sick after months of nonstop travel and missing my dad’s 100th birthday. But as painful as it was, it was worth it, because this work matters.
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 17
BREAKING: Here’s the deal, straight from the Senator putting it together. And it’s a big First Amendment loser.
John Coleman
@FreeSpeech_AI
Jun 17
Here’s the package, according to Senator Blackburn this morning: Senate KOSA, NO FAKES (also in the AI Act), codify Rate Payer Protection Plan, provisions that regulate training data for bias, no preemption, and new NIST requirements.
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 16
The fight over American slavery was also a fight over free speech. When Congress tried to silence anti-slavery petitions through the gag rule, abolitionists like John Quincy Adams fought not just for emancipation, but for the right to be heard.
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FIRE reposted
Aaron Terr
@aaronterr1
Jun 15
The @TampaSportsAuth made the right call by refusing to pull Ye's shows. A public venue can't cancel a performance just because officials disagree with the artist's views or past remarks. Once you open that door, no performer is safe.
WFLA NEWS
@WFLA
Jun 15
'DO THE RIGHT THING': Sen. Rick Scott spoke at the Florida Holocaust Museum on Monday to demand that Kanye West not be allowed to perform in Tampa. wfla.com/news/hillsboro…
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 16
Montgomery County Public Schools, the 16th-largest school district in the country, released a memo requiring sweeping prior review of all student publications. Now, with our support, over 100 student journalists and advisers across the district are pushing back.
5.8K
FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 16
MCPS’s memo would stop headlines before they ever reach the page, and gives administrators power over content protected by Maryland’s New Voices Act. 🔗: mdcspa.org/new-voices-act…
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FIRE
@TheFIREorg
Jun 16
With our help, these students are urging MCPS to return to its prior policy and reaffirm that student journalists, not administrators, decide what appears in student media, as Maryland law already guarantees. Our work here is far from over.
An Open Letter to Montgomery County Public Schools, June 12, 2026
From fire.org
1.8K
FIRE reposted
Sarah McLaughlin
@sarahemclaugh
Jun 15
People *need* to understand this: the under-16 bans hit adults too. Whether you’re 15 or 55, your ability to speak freely and anonymously online is at risk. This. Isn’t. Just. About. Teens.
Polymarket
@Polymarket
Jun 15
JUST IN: UK Government clarifies adults will still be able to use social media by verifying their identities with digital IDs, facial recognition, passports and credit cards.
193K